


black licorice

by daftprettyboys



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Abusive Parents, Beverly Marsh Knows Everything, Bill Denbrough & Eddie Kaspbrak Are Best Friends, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, M/M, Minor Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris, Minor Mike Hanlon/Original Character(s), Oblivious Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier Has Issues, Richie Tozier Has a Sister, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is Bad at Feelings, Slow Burn, Stanley Uris is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23422933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daftprettyboys/pseuds/daftprettyboys
Summary: richie rolls his eyes, grabbing his keys from the table."i'm walking home." eddie quips shortly and richie narrows his eyes."good for you. i'm going out, i wasn't offering a ride." he says with an eyeroll followed by a glare, and eddie flushes in embarrassment."whatever." he spits, unsure where this argument even started or why he suddenly can't help but want to kiss richie. or kick him. probably both.oreddie's new friend has an older brother, and eddie's pretty sure he's never loathed someone more in his life.(title from black licorice by peach pit)
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 30
Kudos: 169





	1. prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! this is my first work ever posted so i hope you guys enjoy :')

it was a dismal day in derry, maine.

eddie figures, as he slides out of bill denbrough's passenger seat, that it is always a dismal day in derry at seven am on a tuesday and he has to walk into the world's most obscene form of torture- derry high school. 

"i-it could be worse," bill had said last night when ben had complained about the rain, his words slightly muffled through the anatomy textbook pressed against his cheek.   
and yes, bill was right, as he so often was, and that had made eddie smile at the redhead- if not for his accuracy then at least his attempt at positivity. 

but it was a new day today, and it was still drizzling in that annoying way that made eddie's curls turn damp and cover his eyes and made him all soggy and pissy. the rain makes bill look beautiful, eddie realizes as his best friend falls into step on his left side and they drag themselves, half asleep, up through the lobby of derry high. 

it makes bill look beautiful in the same way it makes ben look beautiful, and yet it makes eddie's body feel and look miserable. 

eddie spent the whole day seeing in bleak grays, blues, and browns until he was with his friends at lunch, and even then he was still lost in his own thoughts.

how old was that wad of gum flattened on the floor next to the sole of his chucks? he nudges it and resists the urge to gag. 

"-nd eddie, this is mabel. we gave her a tour this morning." 

eddie's head snaps up at the mention of his name, and his eyes meet ben and bill who stare back at him hopefully. there's a girl on the other side of ben, her smile wide and hand waving. 

eddie panics, having not realized anybody had actually walked up to him, let alone speak. "um, hey. i'm eddie. kaspbrak." he waves back and introduces himself, motioning for them to sit with him. they comply, and eddie tries not to be a creep as he studies this mabel as she drinks from a old, scuffed black water bottle. 

she's got slightly wavy, long black hair. her eyes are dark and framed by natural lashes and light freckles upon the bridge of her nose. she's got on a faded brown crewneck pullover that advertises some national park in colorado. there are have moth holes in the collar. she is, in eddie's humble opinion, absolutely stunning. 

she smiles at him when she catches his eye, and he asks where she's from. her eyes light up.   
"my family moved here from estes park, colorado." she says, blushing slightly when eddie's eyes flicker down to her top in understanding. "it's so much... different here." she says awkwardly, and eddie can't help but giggle quietly.

"it's o-okay, mabel. e-everybody hates derry." bill smiles a blindingly beautiful smile, and the girl beams just as blindingly back at him. 

after lunch, eddie is pleasantly surprised to learn that his new friend shares three of his six classes, one of which was before lunch. he blushes when she mentions it, but she laughs it off when he explains that he was so tired that he didn't even notice her.

eddie sees in bright reds, pinks, yellows and purples for the rest of the day. 


	2. one

eddie stares out the window in his european history class, watching as small beads of rain slide down the pane like the small beads of blackberry tea that form on the outside of the glasses that sharon denbrough brings the boys during the heat of the summer. 

mabel had gotten along surprisingly well with eddie. he figured it is because while he is quick to frustrate and snaps at people easily (and therefore doesn't have many friends), she has proven to be very similar. she never quite gets mad, but she has a type of sarcastic wit that always gives eddie a run for his money. 

"earth to eddie." calls that very voice which he had been considering. his head snaps to his newest friend, "what?" he quips, the lilt of his voice giving away his teasing mood. 

mabel rolls her eyes. "we're not going to fucking finish this in time." she hisses, eyes flickering to the clock in the left corner of the classroom. "i have to do some house stuff after school, otherwise i would suggest we could do it then." she suggests this with a sigh, and eddie's ears perk in intrigue. 

mabel tozier has been here for about a month and a half and has hung out many times with eddie and the others. They usually opt to go to the drugstore or coffee shop after school since eddie was inclined to, in any way he could, avoid sonia kaspbrak meeting his new friends, especially girls, when he found one.

he knew what would happen- sonia would get all excited and giddy, thinking that her son was cured, and that he wasn't any longer going to hell, and then she'd immediately forbid them from ever being alone in that damn clam trap of a house. 

he had shivered at the thought the first time and still does. 

joke's on you, ma, eddie thinks. i'm so very gay and always will be. 

mabel hadn't ever invited him over either though. and neither eddie, ben, nor bill had yet to go to her house yet. they always kind of decided on bill or ben's house, anyways.

"i'll just finish it, then. if you buy me a slushy." eddie reasons, his stomach growling at the thought of all that forbidden sugar. he preferred to do things he knows his mother would hate, and even if the taste of grape syrup makes him gag a tiny bit, he still always feels a swell of pride with every sip. "oh, and i don't have a car, so can i catch a ride home?" he adds.

her eyes raise slightly and she looks suddenly like she smelt something slightly rancid. "fuck. thank you! and yes, but my brother is going to have to pick us up." she speaks reluctantly while rubbing her temples.

"you have a brother?" it dawns on eddie as he says this that he actually knows nothing about mabel's family besides that they're from colorado. 

"unfortunately so. he's literally the worst, eddie, so i'm warning you now. he'll be weird. because, like, he goes to another school, uh, you know that private school? the one that looks like a fucking castle. over in the town over." she speaks each sentence meticulously and as if they have to do with each other in any way. as confused as he is by the explanation, eddie just nods and prepares himself for the worst as the bell rings. 

mabel and eddie have to wait for fifteen minutes.

eddie wasn't very mad for the first fourteen minutes, but now he's a little irritated- if only because mabel looks like she might punch the beat up truck that is currently rolling up to them. 

when the truck pulls up, mabel all but throws open the passenger side door, yelling immediately at her brother as she slides in. eddie plays with the edge of his mint green jumper as he walks towards the back cab. 

"RICHIE!" 

mabel is huffing and groaning expletives as eddie hops up (his legs are short, sue him) into the seat, delicately placing down his yellow backpack next to him and looking up. 

"oh! mabel-mabel, if-you're-able! please tell me next time you're bringing a cutie like this home with us." the boy in the driver seat speaks, a bony hand falling on top of his heart as his gaze shifts from his fuming sister to eddie himself. "my heart is palpitating, sis."

they make eye contact and eddie wants to drop fucking dead right there. 

of course, he notices richie's hair first. it's so unruly; each dark curl simultaneously falls into place and looks completely accidental and windblown. the curly ringlets fall to a little past his ears and down on his forehead, inches above his eyebrows which are also jet black, full, and expressive. 

eddie then notices that the boy has regal, sharp facial features- his jaw and cheekbones jut out and create a perfect contrast on his pale skin. his nose is crooked and the freckles, much like his sister's, are sporadic and splattered and just beautiful. his eyes, behind wire harry potter-esque frame glasses, are cold and icy but hold more of a mysterious gaze than a threatening one. 

he doesn't quite smile at eddie, but his lips are slightly parted, enough to expose part of the large pearly whites that are big and slightly crooked. his lips are a cherry red, chapped with dimpled cheeks and smile wrinkles as if he usually grins like the cheshire cat.

richie's dressed in a white button up and his dark blue and silver tie is untied, hanging limply around his shoulders. a school uniform, part of eddie's brain tells him. 

"-this is eddie. my friend, richie. don't be such a dick." mabel chimes in. eddie is dumbfounded and can only wave shyly at the handsome boy, trying not to wonder why mabel put such emphasis on part of her sentence. 

richie barely even nods at eddie in response as he looks away and instead pulls out of the school, one leg propped against the window and an arm resting on it. eddie can't say anything about how fucking unsafe that is, mostly because the music richie is playing is so loud he can't hear himself think, but also because he is suddenly very intimidated and intrigued by the siblings, one in particular. 

the two in front bicker the whole entire drive to eddie's. as richie barely breaks at a stop sign and swerves to avoid a squirrel and mabel screams and mutters apologies to eddie the whole time, who is sat in the back quietly trying to conceal a grin. 

richie finally addresses eddie for the first time when he pulls to a stop in front of his driveway. 

"alright, mon petit chou, is this you?" richie says over the music he'd started blasting.

eddie feels alarmed by being addressed by the boy, specifically because the boy just spoke in a pretty flawless french accent and eddie takes ASL but he's pretty sure that 'chou' is not a french term of endearment. 

"-uh, yes. th-thank you." eddie sqeaks, opening the door and shutting it quickly, hustling into his house and out of the rain. 


	3. two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (french translations in the end notes)

the first time eddie finds himself at the tozier house is the next saturday afternoon.

he and his mother had just gotten into a fight (normally he'd go to bill's house, but bill was away for the weekend). 

so he finds himself in front of the address mabel had sent him.

eddie perceives, as he walks up the driveway, that the tozier house has a normal suburban exterior. there are flower pots and a welcome mat at the front door that reads _merry christmas_ even though it's the end of september. eddie chuckles at that. the noise of a car pulling in behind eddie makes him jump with nerves, expecting for it to be the mabel's father perhaps, or maybe her mother. instead, when he cranes his neck and catches a glimpse of that familiar fucking curly rat's nest, he hightails it to the front door. he panics when he hears the ignition turn off, knocking harder so that he doesn't have to talk to the loudmouthed boy. 

mabel comes to his rescue and eddie frowns slightly as he steps through the threshold. he immediately meets mabel's eyes, as if she knew that eddie felt the sudden loneliness that he did upon entering the house. mabel looks extremely vulnerable and embarrassed, her arms crossed against her figure and a sheepish smile on her face.

richie comes through the door eddie had left ajar moments later with a bundle of bills and letters in his long, slender fingers, taking off his shoes and jean jacket. 

"hey, eddie. sorry, it's not much..." mabel gestures around her house with a shrug, and while eddie kind of agrees, he just grins at her in what he hopes is a nice smile. 

(he knows what it's like to feel ashamed of your own home).

"no, i love it, mabel." he says softly, and the statement was definitely a lie. it was freezing cold in the entry room. the meticulously placed paintings and plants and decorations were stiff, scarce, and seemed out of place for the energetic and bright energy of the two kids. everything seemed grayed and dusty, despite them just being a few months moved into this house. richie doesn't say anything but eddie feels a hand press lightly at the bottom of his back as richie tries to slide past him and into the kitchen. eddie all but yelps, mumbling a quick, "sorry" to richie's back as he walks away. mabel's busy taking off her coat and boots in the corner, so eddie takes a quick opportunity to stare, just as richie turns with a crooked smile of amusement on his face at the red on eddie's cheeks before disappearing, with the mail, up the stairs. 

great, eddie embarrassed himself in front of mabel's older brother. 

"you gonna take off your stuff, kaspbrak?" mabel asks with a lilting laugh. eddie smiles guiltily with another blush, unzipping his jacket and revealing his yellow jumper before following the girl up the stairs. mabel's room was about what he'd expected. it was mostly neat, littered with half-burned candles and a closet full of old sweaters and shirts. it smelled very nice, like cinnamon, and there were a few photographs of her and richie hanging up in the corner near her bed. 

when they'd finally entered the room, eddie launched into a very long and surely exhausting rant about his mom that lasted nearly twenty minutes. mabel talked him through it and, most importantly, she listened. he was grateful. he was feeling so much better than he had been, thankfully, and now they were just lounging in her room, mabel spinning in her chair and eddie hanging off her neatly tucked bed. 

the static noise of her playing with her yo-yo lulls him into a trance and he stares at the pictures on her wall. one photo catches his attention- mabel and richie, who couldn't be any older than twelve and eleven, are smiling at the camera. he sits up and inspects it further, seeing that they're at a carnival and richie's got her tucked under his arm, knuckles in her hair. he smiles softly at the happiness in the photo. "are you guys close? i've always wanted a sibling." eddie says suddenly. he's not sure what prompted him, but mabel catches his eyesight and smiles sadly at the photo. "they can be a nightmare, but they're pretty fucking great to have around." she says, rising from the spinny chair and flopping next to eddie on her purple sheets. 

"i didn't know you had a brother, you know. before he gave us that ride that one day." eddie says, trying to calm his stupid fucking heart before he starts wheezing. he definitely shouldn't be so intrigued by this kid, especially since he seems to be kind of rude, not to mention pretty straight, if the amount of times he mentioned "bev," or "bevvie" on the car ride that one time was anything to go by.

he seems like kind of a douche- and straight, no matter. 

"yeah, he's fucking annoying and honestly, sometimes it's better when my friends don't meet him." she sighs. eddie flips onto his side to look at her. "why's that?" mabel's eyes flash for a moment. "as you kind of noticed, he's a spaz. he doesn't fucking shut up, which- yeah okay, thats the ADHD, but like, _my god_ he lives to piss me off. we've been through a lot together, and i love him, but i fucking hate him sometimes. you know?" eddie just nods even though _no, he has no fucking clue what that's like_. but he doesn't want to sound like an dumbass, so he just nods and before he can stop himself, his brain decides to ask another stupid question. "why does he go to faraday if you go to derry high?" eddie asks quietly, watching as mabel's face blanches again with some emotion eddie can't decipher. "well, that's... uh, part of why we moved here. my parents wanted to put him in a place where he's... um... kept in check...?" she says, sounding like she's treading lightly and trying to choose her words carefully. then it dawns on eddie. the missing piece of their suburban picture, the emptiness and coldness that blankets the house- where are mabel and richie's parents?

he thinks back to the last month and a half. has mabel ever mentioned anything about her parents or any personal information about richie? what was the other part of why they moved? why were there no family photos or anything personal anywhere in this house? 

eddie's not sure if he should open that door. or, honestly, if he even wants to.

he nods, trying not to think about the look on mabel's face or the enigma of a boy that is in the room down the hall. eddie shivers and almost musters the courage to ask, but a loud slam makes both of the seventeen year olds jump. 

mabel slides down to the ground and tentatively opens her door, looking to eddie. "i'll be right back." she says, looking anxious. what the fuck is going on with this family? eddie just nods, pulling a comic book out of his backpack. she keeps the door open as she leaves, and she crosses to knock at richie's door before eddie watches her figure slip inside. she doesn't close his door either, so it's not even really eddie's fault that he hears parts of their conversation.

although, he quickly wishes he hadn't because he feels like he's intruding on something way, way too personal. 

"-yes, he just called me. i don't think they'll be back for a few days, but-" 

"well, where are they?" 

"-don't know, but they didn't fucking leave any money and i don't get paid until tuesday-" 

more jumbled sentences, then eddie's name is mentioned. then a few quieter whispers and suddenly a childish howl from richie, which seems unlike the mood. 

"-rich, can you stop being a twelve year old for five minutes? i'm being fucking serious-" a few moments of frustrated words mumbled from each teen before a sigh and a much more soft, "i don't know, 'bel. i can try and get some stuff together. is he going to stay?" 

eddie's eyebrows furrow. how did richie switch moods so quickly? and would it be more polite of eddie to leave, or stay? his breathing starts to pick up and he stands, bouncing on the balls of his feet and playing with the hem of his red shorts. oh, why the fuck did he even wear these shorts today? it's not even very hot out, in fact if he stays until later he's going to freeze when he's walking home, his ma's gonna kill him-

"eddie! are you okay?" mabel asks, reentering the room. eddie didn't even realize she had come back, and as he looks at her he sees her eyes rimmed red, but her face looks concerned with eddie. his heart tugs, and he sucks in a breath, realizing that he must have had labored breathing. "yes, sorry sorry. is everything okay?" he questions nervously, walking over to where she lingers in the doorway. she nods, swallowing thickly. "yeah, yeah, rich and i just didn't realize that, uh... our parents aren't going to be home until late." she whispers, looking to the ceiling. eddie squints, not believing it but not wanting to push her since she's clearly upset. "did you still want to have dinner with us?" she asks, looking a little hopeful. 

this makes eddie feel a little better, so he nods a quick, "yeah, of course. if i'm still invited." and they smile at each other as mabel leads the way downstairs. richie's already rummaging through to freezer when they round the corner, and eddie has to stifle a laugh as the tall boy tosses a frozen caprisun to the ground with a grumble. "rich." mabel chastises, causing richie to turn to them and grin with his large teeth and cheek dimples popping out. 

and oh, god, eddie's gonna pass out.

richie's dressed in black skinny jeans, red and white mismatched socks, and a plain black t-shirt. his glasses have fallen askew on his face from being bent over the freezer and he has the most confusingly sexy smile on his face- all despite having clearly been pretty upset mere minutes earlier upstairs.

"good news, kids." he says with a grin as eddie and mabel sit at the stools on the kitchen island. richie balances himself on his forearms on the other side of the island from them and quirks his brow. "i found frozen pizza!" he says with a twirl. eddie's eyebrows raise- he'd never imagined richie could be...fun.

"richard! _pourquoi es-tu si enculer embarrassant_? pouvait-tu être normal devant eddie?" mabel whines quickly, and eddie nearly jumps out of his seat in surprise. "wait, do you guys speak french?" he says, bewildered and shocked. 

the siblings chuckle, sharing a look. richie lifts a brow, gesturing to eddie, "tu aimes les garçons intelligents, n'est pas?" richie mutters under his breath. eddie fumes, because even though he can't understand, he definitely knows when someone is teasing him. eddie picks up the pen on the counter in front of him and lobs it at richie's head. richie just laughs as he ducks out of the way, turning from his sister. 

"you don't even know what i said, eds! what's the issue?" richie smirks, shrugging his left shoulder. 

"fuck you. don't call me that." eddie grumbles, wishing he wasn't so embarrassed by his friend and her brother making fun of him to his face without him being able to understand. richie smirks and eddie's stomach does a somersault. 

"i like him, sis. he's a firecracker!" he says, winking at eddie. mabel groans impossibly loudly, wiping her face with her hands and slightly smearing her makeup as eddie's face ignites red.

"enculer-toi. play nice, rich." she groans. eddie's stomach burns with admiration and a little frustration as the siblings switch casually between languages as if it's no big deal. mabel turns to eddie as the timer goes off and richie turns to open the oven door. 

"sorry about him eddie. but yeah, we were born in france. we lived in marseille until we were ten and eleven, then moved to colorado." she explains. eddie's mouth opens in amazement. "i've never even left the state." he says pathetically, and richie snorts.

"shut up." he quips to richie, who silently holds his hands up in defense with a quiet giggle. 

* * *

richie had taken four slices on a plate up to his room, much to eddie's ~~chagrin~~ relief, so the two ate dinner in peace. they went upstairs after cleaning up, and eddie was reading while mabel did homework.

"shit!" mabel suddenly yelps, pushing her chair back abruptly and causing eddie to look up from his comic book that he'd brought with him. 

he looks at her questioningly, and she looks regretful and slightly in disbelief. "i forgot, i said i would cover a shift that starts in," she checks the time. "ten minutes. i've got to go." she says, pulling off her shirt and reaching for her work shirt, already leaving the room.

eddie follows on her heels, assuring her he can walk home. "i'm so sorry eddie, i totally forgot!" she screeches, her shirt stuck around her ponytail as they rush into the kitchen. 

richie, who is sitting on the kitchen table with his feet in the sink, tilts his head. eddie wrinkles his nose at the sight of richie's position and tries not to think of the germs that are spreading. or why in the _hell_ he was even sitting like that.

"what you you doing?" eddie asks before he can stop himself, disgust evident in his voice. richie smiles at eddie, swinging his feet down and sitting normally on the counter next to the sink.

"funny you should ask-" he cuts himself off when he finally takes in his sister's half-clothed form. "wait, wait wait. eds, were you just in my kid sister's room while she had her shirt off?" he asks with a glare, actually hopping off and stalking towards the two, towering a good eight inches above eddie. 

eddie shakes his head violently, suddenly feeling intimidated. he also can't help but notice the faint hickey on richie's neck and the cigarette tucked behind his ear. his mouth is suddenly very dry, and he feels very annoyed.

richie raises his eyebrows, gesturing to mabel as she finally tugs the shirt all the way down. eddie scowls at richie, putting his hands on his hips. "im gay." he deadpans, his eyebrows furrowed.

"shocker." richie sneers right back, and eddie gasps. mabel also gasps, more out of exasperation than eddie's gasp of shock. 

" _enculer-toi, richard_! pourquoi es-tu si difficile?! im sorry to duck out on you like this, eddie. let yourself out- i'll text you after my shift." she says breathlessly, kissing both boys on the cheek before sprinting out the door. 

eddie speaks once it becomes silent. "what do you mean?" he glares at richie as stalks closer. there's no fucking way that richie is homophobic. that would be the worst luck in the world. richie rolls his eyes as he walks closer.

"i'm just saying, it takes one to know one, mon chou. i'm bi." he says, holding his arm out like he's introducing himself. eddie rolls his eyes, feeling relief that he's not homophobic. eddie has to wish with all his might that he could squash that weird feeling of excitement in his stomach. 

he doesn't take richie's hand, instead rolling his eyes and turns to grab his jacket. 

"leaving so soon, eds?" he calls, and eddie can hear the smile in the jackass's voice. 

"don't call me that." eddie snaps in annoyance, pulling on his white k-swiss shoes. 

richie rolls his eyes, grabbing his keys from the table. eddie notices the older boy's motions out of the corner of his vision, and crosses his arms stubbornly.

"i'm walking home." eddie says shortly and richie narrows his eyes.

"good for you. i'm going out, i wasn't offering a ride." he retorts. eddie flushes in embarrassment. 

"whatever." he spits, unsure where this argument even started or why he suddenly can't help but want to kick richie. or kiss him. probably both.

"see you around, pipsqueak." richie mutters before shutting the door. eddie huffs in anger, face red (from the demeaning nickname, not the way that richie touched his back as he brushed past him). 

what the fuck is richie's problem?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "richard! pourquoi es-tu si enculer embarrassant? pouvait-tu être normal devant eddie?" (richard! why are you so fucking embarrassing? can you be normal in front of eddie?) 
> 
> "tu aimes les garçons intelligents, n'est pas?" (you like the smart boys, no?)
> 
> "enculer-toi..." (fuck you)
> 
> "enculer-toi, richard! pourquoi es-tu si difficile?!" (fuck you, richard! why are you so difficult?!)


	4. three

at bill's mocking request, eddie had filled him in on what mabel's brother was like on the walk home from school the day after eddie's first visit. ben had told bill about it first actually, because eddie had called ben on the walk home from the tozier's last week to groan and complain about the insufferable older boy. now, much to eddie's chagrin, his two best friends would not stop teasing him about it. so today eddie was just glad to be spending time with mabel alone because she didn't know about any of it. he hoped it could stay that way.

funny thing was, mabel wasn't even in the house currently. 

"what's up, shortcake?" richie projects as he pads into the kitchen. eddie doesn't look up from his perch at the tozier's kitchen table but instead shifts in his criss cross position onto his legs, sighing as they become tucked under his body.

"don't talk to me. i'm dealing with stuff." eddie mumbles, his face smushed into his fist as he glares at his textbook in disgust. 

richie hums and eddie wants to roll his eyes."is that precalc, eds?" the tall boy asks, pulling lucky charms out of the cupboard. eddie glares at richie's back, eyes flitting down to his textbook when richie turns back around. can't the asshole mind his own business? richie raises his eyebrows, shoveling handfuls of the cereal into his mouth wolfishly. eddie's nose wrinkles in disgust. 

"yes, it is. and don't fucking call me that." he quips back, re-gripping his pencil in order to avoid staring for too long. 

richie sighs, heavily throwing the closed cardboard box down on the counter and leaning his weight forward on his arms. "sorry, pipsqueak." he says slowly with a grin, as if hoping for a reaction he knew he'd get. 

eddie turns red in irritation, looking up with anger at the older boy. "are you fucking kidding me?" 

"what's wrong, eds? you don't like terms of endearment?" there's not very much kindness in richie's snotty voice.

"not from you, asshole. i'm having a rough fucking time with this last problem and i don't need your shit." 

" _alright, princess._ jeez. what'cha got here?" richie says, walking to the other side of the island and sliding into the stool on eddie's right. 

eddie huffs at the nickname, his face still twisted in anger, but just points to his notebook and textbook, quickly explaining his problem. on many occasions, mabel's mentioned how her older brother is basically a school whiz, and eddie _really_ wants to finish this last problem. 

"right, so what it is, is a pythagorean identity, right? tan squared theta equals secant squared theta." 

eddie's eyes flit between his notebook and richie's face, suspicious and surprised that not only is the boy helpful, but _is_ being extremely patient and is very smart. richie continues to explain and eddie follows along as he's walked through what he needs to plug into his calculator, his eyes never leaving richie's determined face for more than necessary. richie, cool as ever, seems to have slipped into a sort of... almost nerdy mode, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as they ride down from his angle in the chair. eddie's lips curl into a faint smile at the sight. 

"your book's down here, greenbean." richie says, a finger with chipped black paint tapping the corner of eddie's notebook with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. eddie rolls his eyes but bites his tongue, unwilling to admit how thankful he was for the effort put forth by the older boy next to him. 

he finishes his last problem with richie's helpful aid and leans back, stretching his limbs out. "um...thank you, richie. s-sorry i was being mean to you." eddie admits sheepishly, his face glowing pink. 

richie grins, knocking eddie's jaw softly with his fist. "nah, 's all good eds. you staying for dinner? we got dino nuggets." the boy proposes as he stands and waltzes to the freezer with a sly grin and wiggly eyebrows. 

eddie has to stop himself from giggling like a schoolboy and embarrassing himself. "uh, sure. if i'm allowed...?" eddie asks awkwardly, neatly stuffing his schoolwork into his yellow pack. richie huffs through his nose. 

"nobody's here to say no, eds. say, where's my lil sis?" richie asks, leaning back out from the open fridge door, eyebrows raised and effectively looking an equal amount of _hot as fuck_ and idiotic.

but richie's words make eddie freeze momentarily. shit.

earlier, mabel had requested that eddie cover for her for about forty-five minutes while she went to some guy's house to drop something off. for some reason, it was impertinent that richie didn't find out and eddie had successfully made it through fifteen of those minutes before richie questioned his sister's absence. 

"she's...uh... in the bathroom." eddie says lamely, chewing on the tip of his pen to quell his anxiety. he was kind of a shit liar. 

"is that so?" richie asks tauntingly, closing the doors to the fridge, holding a bowl of ripe strawberries. "she sure has been in there a long while. and i _just_ brushed my teeth upstairs in her bathroom, so..." he trails off, eyes pointedly shooting to the only other bathroom in the house plausible for mabel to have been in, which lies just behind eddie. he follows richie's line of sight and gulps. the door was wide open and the room was completely empty.

"uh, well. actually, she had to run out really quickly to get tampons, i think?" eddie says quickly, proud of himself for coming up with an excuse that richie couldn't doubt. the other boy just laughs tauntingly though, and eddie's heart rate picks up slightly. 

"i bought her more tampons last week, eds." richie says, stalking closer to lean down to eddie's face level, effectively looking stern and simultaneously making eddie cave. "what're you hiding, _mon petit chou?_ " he whispers, breath cool and minty from toothpaste. 

eddie holds off for maybe three seconds, but tozier's bright and intimidating eyes boring into his own wide ones break his resolve. "she borrowed your car! to go drop something off at some person's house- i don't know. god, you're so nosy. and stop calling me that!" eddie sputters and rambles, his face flushing from the feeling of richie's huffing breath on his cheek and neck. 

"it's MY car! how am _i_ being nosy?!" richie hisses, slamming his palm lightly on the table. eddie jumps slightly in surprise, and richie mumbles a quick apology as he backs away, looking guilty. eddie frowns in confusion at his odd reaction, but the look quickly disappears from his handsome face and eddie feels like he's back on trial.

"wait, so she left you here?" richie then asks in confusion, and eddie shrugs. she said it would be quick and he had _promised_ mabel he wouldn't tell richie the name of who she was going to see, and quite frankly he doesn't even remember. 

"i had work to get done. plus, _you're_ here. it's not like i'm all alone in some random person's house. she leaves me here all the time when she takes naps or has work. honestly, it's probably because she knows you need a babysitter." eddie snarks, eyes rolling. 

richie's eyes narrow slightly before rolling right back at him. "oh, so _you're_ the babysitter in this scenario? funny. see, i think you just want to get me by myself." he says, his arms crossing over his jean jacket with a sexy smirk. 

the next mumble from eddie's mouth is a complete and utter accident, and he's mortified immediately as it comes out. 

" _no._ and trust me. if i _did_ , it would have worked quicker than that." he blanches as soon as he says it, and the split moment of silence afterwards is long enough for eddie's face to burn as if he had been set on fire.

if the moment of silence was embarrassing, the chuckle that richie emits afterwards is life-fucking-ending for eddie. he braces to be kicked out of the house and never be invited back. 

fuck, he just said something outwardly flirty to his friend's older brother, who he's still pretty sure _has a girlfriend_ and is also kind of a dick and _is his friends older brother, oh FUCK._

_fuck._

richie, however, just smirks with raised eyebrows. he maintains eye contact with eddie, clearly enjoying having the upper hand in the situation. eddie doesn't even process the fact that richie doesn't look remotely uncomfortable or upset by eddie's words, and actually looks like he's enjoying this moment. he's too busy watching richie nod as if thoughtful while chewing on the last of a strawberry before licking his lips. 

all richie does is hum, a low and deep sound- a sound that makes eddie almost whine. "you're cute when you lie, _mon chou."_ is all he says as he slinks upstairs quietly. 

eddie is left to stare at the oven timer that blinks a countdown at '29:27' and wonder what in the hell he just walked into, and gripe silently about how fucking annoying richie was. 

eddie's leg bounced anxiously as he waited for mabel to come home so he can forget this awful (and yet excruciatingly exciting) last half an hour. 


	5. four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys for the nice feedback :') this is my first fic so it makes me wanna keep writing!! anyways here's this, its like almost 2k words oopsies

eddie sighs and takes a deep breath through the lulling silence of the library. apropos of nothing, it occurs to eddie that it had been a _really_ long time since they'd partied. 

usually, this wasn't much of an issue because eddie, ben, bill (and even mabel at this point), weren't huge partners. they preferred their own small group because they'd all been tormented as pre-teens, occasionally by some of the kids they go to school with now. that, and the fact that they rarely were invited to the parties at derry high. if they were, it was someone that they knew in their class's 18th birthday, or bill got an invite from the baseball team. but none of them were cool enough to party every weekend. and none of them even wanted to, so it was okay. if needed, bill would steal a handle of his father's gin and they'd all go to ben's house and sleep in the basement. 

eddie noticed that the others were getting stressed enough to warrant a night out. ben was starting to become a lot more antsy than normal, complaining about all their tests coming up, which is something ben rarely does. bill has kept bringing up that one time he out-chugged tommy weinstock and consequentially dove into the pond behind mark cameron's house or the time he drank a whole wine bag in under two minutes at emma garner's house. 

eddie himself felt restless. he wasn't much of a drinker, especially given that one time that bill, ben, and eddie got so drunk they fell asleep in bill's basement and georgie found them the next morning bent over the toilet together. they were there for three hours, during which georgie and ben kept bringing them cool washcloths and gatorade. 

eddie did like to let loose sometimes, though, and the good news was that halloween was in two weeks.

but for now, eddie's got to finish this fucking pre-calculus homework, which is hard because bill keeps shooting him side-eyed glances with smirks. eddie knew he should at _least_ be copying ben's homework but he can't bring himself to quit talking every three seconds of silence. 

"guys, i think if i don't get an ent-tire bottle of v-vodka in my stomach in the next five days i'll cut my d-dick off." bill speaks suddenly. "william denbrough!" a stern voice calls from the librarian's desk ten feet away, and eddie covers his mouth. mabel lets out a loud, short-clipped laugh and ben snorts. bill's face turns red but he shrugs, barely ashamed. "i'm not k-kidding." he finishes lowly.   
"don't worry, big bill. halloween's soon, we'll get more than our fair share of vodka then." mabel says without taking her eyes off her own homework. eddie chuckles, sliding ben's chicken scratch homework over to copy it down.

* * *

it didn't take long for eddie to have his first sleepover at mabel's house. it wasn't actually even intentional, but eddie had actually told his mother that he was going over to bill's house earlier, instead of mabel's, since she still didn't really know about her. he just had to call her and mabel had gave a (not very) convincing attempt at sharon denbrough's voice for three seconds. 

somehow, it worked.

it was freezing cold outside when he'd arrived, and yet as he'd entered the house he was met with a very warm feeling and howling laughter. confused, eddie padded into the living room to find a large group of people that he'd never seen surrounding both of the tozier siblings. unluckily for eddie, he caught richie's eyes first and richie chirped at his sister, "your boyfriend's here." 

eddie scowls at richie as everyone in the room turns curiously. he flashes his middle finger, trying not to look at the cocky grin on richie's face or the other strangers strewn around richie's lounging body. at the same time, mabel shoves him hard as he flips eddie off in return.

"hi, eddie! guys, this is my friend eddie!" mabel says with a lot of excitement and a beautiful smile. richie, ever the asshole, mocks her excitement from beside her and she shoves him with a glare. the group ignores the bickering siblings as eddie steps fully into the room. he feels shy. 

the closest person to him was a very handsome boy with honey eyes sitting with one knee propping his chin up. he speaks with a smile and a friendly hand stretching out. "i'm stan." eddie grips his hand and shakes as he admires the boy's tight curls and orderly, prim presence. he's not really smiling, more of a curve of the left side of his mouth- and his face just looks so.... handsome. eddie looks at this boy and thinks, _what a fucking 180 from richie tozier._

his hair is lighter than richie's, and not as crazy. richie's curls are more like _richie_ , eddie guesses. dark, boisterous and messy, yet somehow still seems very soft and eddie suddenly wishes he could tangle his fingers in those locks-   
eddie cancels that thought before it spirals out of control and instead shakes the hand of the drop-dead gorgeous girl with the nose hoop and beautiful red hair. "i'm bev." she says with a confident, warm smile. 

eddie's heart stops. _bev_. the bev that richie always talks about. bev, _his girlfriend._ why did his mouth taste so bitter? despite the green feeling of envy that was threatening to ruin eddie's night, he smiles and shakes her hand next as he plants himself next to mabel. his eyes land on the last stranger, a very handsome boy with a brilliant smile and _really_ nice arms. 

"-and this is mike!" mabel says with a shy smile and red cheeks. eddie's eyebrows raise in recognition of the name. _oh._ that's the boy she saw last week when eddie covered for her (or at least tried to). mabel always goes on and on about her friend mike that _goes to another school..._ it clicks into eddie's head and he smirks. eddie shakes mike's hand and smiles. "eddie! we've heard a lot about you." mike says with a grin, and eddie blushes but smiles over his nervousness. 

"oh, so you guys hang out with mabel often, then?" eddie asks curiously.

a sudden barking laugh out of stanley makes eddie glance over in surprise and he notices similar grins on mike, bev, and mabel's faces. eddie's a tiny bit confused, but then richie hits stanley in the chest so hard that the latter boy yelps and laughs even harder. the noise from the boy alone makes eddie giggle quietly too. 

"sure, eddie. all the time." bev says with a wink. eddie tries to ignore the feeling of stupidity that washes over him when he realizes he must have been left out of some kind of inside joke of theirs.

despite the welcome and how at home the new friends truly make him feel, every single comment, glance, or touch (of which there were many) between richie and bev had eddie's whole body doused in an ugly green color. 

he gnaws on his bottom lip for the rest of the night.

eddie was used to the tozier siblings house being empty and silent (the one exception being the persistent thumping of richie's music from behind his almost always closed door), so now that there had been several more bodies in the house, it started to actually seem like a home. it was warm; never was there a quiet moment- mostly thanks to richie. 

(he was very loud).

not only, but eddie saw the way that richie came _alive_ when he was with his friends. the way he'd throw an arm loosely around mabel's shoulders, plant a fat kiss on stan's forehead or cheek, the way he joked and ribbed and flirted with mike and bev, and even the occasional winks and subtleties tossed haphazardly towards eddie himself- most of which almost had stopped eddie's stone cold little heart, thank you very much. he didn't want to think about why.

* * *

it wasn't until almost ten at night when things started to spiral, and definitely not in a fun way. 

stan and mike had left ten and fifteen minutes ago respectively, leaving bev, eddie, mabel, and richie. 

earlier, mabel had made an offhand comment to beverly about her not being able to buy the newest style of jeans she wanted. eddie and bev clearly didn't think much of it (because why would they?), as evident by how the conversation carried on casually. the topic arrived at different fancy boutiques around derry- establishments that were quite rare and frequently mocked by the youths- and mabel had only claimed that she probably couldn't afford to even breathe in the air there. eddie, trying to conceal his confusion with a giggle, glanced around the large, wealthy looking house in the silence that followed. he couldn't help but be a bit confused. the tozier house was much bigger than eddie's, there was even a pool in their backyard and a finished basement.

"god, can you shut the fuck up?" richie states suddenly, dead serious.

eddie's stomach drops in surprise and his head whips towards the older boy, his eyes widening in surprise. mabel's eyes narrow at richie, and bev straightens up. eddie notices in his peripheral bev shrugs richie's arm off her shoulder. 

"um, what?" mabel asks, her face turning pink. richie crosses his arms, the look on his face almost triggering eddie's fight or flight. 

"you're being such a fucking snot." richie snarls, his eyebrows furrowing down in a menacing glare. eddie's stomach churns and he suddenly feels sick. beverly locks eyes with eddie from across the table and he quickly feels some sort of solidarity in the fact that she looks just as surprised and uncomfortable as eddie feels. 

"what the fuck, rich?" mabel says, her eyes searching her older brother's.

"you're just being ungrateful, okay? fuck. you just want and want and want, and i try to g-" 

"stop!" she yelps, but richie keeps muttering about how ungrateful she is, "i know it's hard, kid, but i'm trying so hard for you and you don't give a fuck-" he keeps going and eddie really, really wants to leave, until mabel yells: "you're acting like papa right now, rich!" her single sentence, with it's small emotional twinge of a french accent, halt's richie's entire rant.

suddenly, it feels like someone had blown out a candle and sucked out the breath of everyone there, dumping a gallon of ice water on eddie's heart. to his credit, eddie wasn't completely daft. he knew that something was missing with this family, _namely their parental figures,_ but he hadn't ever dared to mention it out loud. the siblings were clearly very touchy with the subject and never had brought it up, _clearly_ for a reason.

richie's face blanches even more than eddie thought was humanly possible at the accusation. richie abruptly stands up, mouth agape and a pure look of disgust, hurt, and fear etched onto his shockingly beautiful features. his chair falls backwards onto the floor with a crash and eddie feels like throwing up all over again as richie storms wordlessly out of the room. everybody left at the table jumps as the front door slams shut loudly. the noise reverberates through the empty house indelibly. 

it's completely silent for a moment and nobody even takes a breath. after another sickening moment, beverly starts, "i should go make sure he..." she looks just as sick as eddie. she doesn't need to finish her sentence. instead, she presses a soft kiss on the crown of mabel's head and cups eddie's cheek, sending him a look: _take care of her._ eddie can only nod as bev exits the room. 

mabel starts sobbing almost instantly as bev's out the door.


	6. five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did not edit this but here u go. i hope to have another chapter up maybe tomorrow!!

eddie was actually pretty used to consoling crying people. he wasn't really the greatest at it, but it was usually something he was often guilted into doing for his mother, who used to call him selfish and ungrateful until he bent to her every will. in the rarest of moments was it actually out of sheer love for her but usually it was because he just wanted her to shut up. he hated alligator tears.

now, though, eddie actually wanted to help mabel, because in all his time being her friend he had never seen her this upset. he wanted to do anything he could to stop it.

thankfully, mabel was finally over her fit of sobs, and eddie was so relieved that he felt like he could finally breathe again (though it had been, like, ten minutes since he’d last reached into his fanny pack to take a puff from his inhaler). she was laying on her back on her bed, head hanging off the side and resting on eddie's shoulder from where he perched anxiously on the ground. it was quiet besides her sniffles and the occasional muttering, "i didn't mean it," or "i should never have said that," or the most painful one, "i hate him." mabel didn't really have to clarify that the "him" of the statement was not, in fact, richie. 

the sound of the door opening almost an hour later, at around eleven, startled mabel from where she had dozed off. eddie's fingers stopped carding themselves through her hair as she leapt off the bed gracefully, nose still running and face blotchy. 

eddie knew better than to follow her downstairs.

he held his breath until she came back up but he already knew it didn't go well. richie tozier really just couldn't ever be quiet. the noise of their yelling had been warbled by all the layers of walls separating the siblings from him, so eddie didn't really hear the _content_ as much as the sheer volume of anger from richie's voice. however, eddie had definitely made out mabel's gasp of shock when she had first got to the bottom of the stairs, followed by desperate pleads, richie's stubborn gasps and gripes, and finally the sound of the sliding glass door downstairs in the kitchen being slid shut. 

tears rolled down her cheeks again when she sulked back into the room. she doesn't say anything, and six minutes of silence passes.

eddie taps his thighs, mabel rubs her eyes. his breathing is quiet and slow and hers come in hiccups. "maybe you should-" eddie starts to suggest after another minute of silence. 

"-i already tried talking to him! he won't listen to me and he won't come inside. he's going to get sick." she worries her bottom lip, and eddie places a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her down onto her bed with an almost silent sigh. 

he's definitely going to regret this. 

“…you know, i can talk to him. try to help him. uh, h-how bad is it?" he asks, but the look on her face answers for her and his stomach churns. "o-okay. you should try to take a little rest. i'll wake you up when he's better, if you want." he reasons when she tries to protest, knowing damn well that he's lying right through his teeth. she's exhausted and she really needs the sleep. as long as she's okay, eddie can go try to diffuse the lit 17-year-old bomb downstairs before he completely detonates and destroys their back porch. 

eddie's not sure what he expects as he creeps outside into the backyard. their lawn, the kind that is typically perfectly manicured when it comes with these types of expensive houses, is overgrown and unkempt. the pool looks dismal with its gray covering, and eddie feels as though nobody has been out here since they moved in. richie sits with his legs off the side of the deck and his back towards eddie.

"leave me alone, bell." richie's voice sounds deep and gravelly, and eddie promptly ignores the shiver that runs down his spine at the sound. "not mabel." eddie says quietly. 

the look richie sends him over his turned shoulder makes eddie want to shrink up and disappear, but somehow that’s not what makes his heart drop. 

richie's face is in pain and, for lack of a better word, pretty destroyed. his forehead has an alarming gash that drips blood down into his eye, matting curls of his hair against his forehead. his right cheekbone is swelling slightly and eddie just knows the cheek will end up completely blue and purple by the morning. christ. 

“y-you’re dripping blood everywhere.” eddie gasps as he makes his way to where richie sits on the edge of the porch. there’s an unlit cigarette between his lips and a lighter on the wood next to the boy. 

richie gives him a dry look that almost makes eddie’s stomach fall through his ass. “sorry, is there a place you’d prefer i bleed?” the words come out in a vicious snark and eddie feels like richie would rather be doing anything else than having this conversation at the moment. 

but that feeling is very mutual. “the bathroom. it’s easier to clean up.” is all eddie says, his voice getting stronger with every passing moment. 

"well it doesn't even hurt." richie says shortly, stubbornly, as if he's lying but is still too pissed off to care. eddie's heart tugs.

eddie shoots him a look that he hopes convinces the taller boy, and feels his lips twitch slightly when richie stands up and slinks upstairs, not bothering to turn and see if eddie's behind him. eddie follows him silently up into his bathroom where richie kneels down, pulling a washcloth and an old first aid kit out and tossing them onto the counter. eddie wants to cry or be sick - he's not sure which - when he realizes that this seems like a routine for richie, like he's used to this. the first aid kit is covered in stickers.

richie shakes his head, wetting a rag silently and lifting it towards the his own scowling face. richie meets eddies eyes in the mirror. "why are you still here, devito?" 

eddie ignores the nickname, rolling his eyes. that was a cheap shot. "richie... please, just- can i just do this? she's-" eddie cuts himself off when he sees richie's expression at the mention of mabel. 

"... _i'm_ worried about you, richie. what fucking happened to you? did your girlfriend do that?" eddie asks, stepping closer to open up the first aid box. 

richie sends him a completely alarmed look that seems almost ridiculous with his face in the state that it's in. "who?"

eddie rolls his eyes, "bev?" he clarifies, not in the mood. 

"no." he spits, looking half scandalized and half annoyed. it's a look that eddie's never seen on his face, and it scares him. "and i don't need your help or whatever, kaspbrak, i'm fine. go make sure mabel's okay." 

it's quiet after that for a few moments before eddie speaks, "she's asleep. i'm here to make sure you're okay because she exhausted herself worrying over you."

eddie watches his sharp facial features flex as richie wipes a peroxide wipe across his forehead, hissing and pursing his lips. 

"and i'm not dating bev." richie clips shortly before sighing. eddie blinks in surprise- they're not dating? he shakes his head microscopically. maybe they're just casually hooking up, there's no reason to get excited.

his stomach drops. wait. why would he even be excited?

"-i walked home with her to her house so i knew she got back safe. but on my way back i ran into someone who i have.. a bad relationship with. he's been a douchebag since we moved here, and i just can't ever fucking _shut my goddamn mouth_ for one second, obviously. so i went and got the ever-loving _fuck_ kicked out of me, which i deserve-” he says, his rambling causing eddie’s anxiety to rise. 

“wait, richie, stop.” eddie says quickly, rinsing the cloth out next to where richie is now perched on the counter. he dares himself to meet richie’s eyes. richie looks full of self hatred and frustration. his hands are restless in his lap, his legs bouncing wildly. eddie wants to cry all over again. 

“i can’t believe i said that to her. i can’t believe i’m just like him.” the boy whispers, his shaky hand rising to take off his glasses. eddie doesn't know what to say, so he says nothing and instead watches in awe as the older boy sniffles quietly. 

eddie reaches out slowly and gently takes richie’s glasses from his clutch and starts cleaning the smudges out with the hem of his shorts. richie watches his actions curiously. 

“richie, um… it’s not really my place, and i know we barely know each other. but, i mean…. b-based on what mabel says, like… you two might be a pain in the ass to each other, but…” eddie stumbles on his words and feels stupid, but as he reaches up and slides richie’s glasses onto his crooked nose himself, he finds that richie’s... actually waiting patiently.

eddie's heart thumps. “i dunno, i just think she really, really looks up to you. like, she tried to hide you from me and i kind of thought it was because you were like, feral or just fucking crazy at first. but i think, like, when i finally first met you, i realized that it may be because you’re like, the ‘cool, mysterious older brother’ or whatever,” eddie says quickly, is hands flying around and making wild quotation marks. he rambles nervously. “and maybe she just didn’t want you to know that she was hanging out with someone like me. because she looks up to you so much and you have those cool friends, i guess. yeah.” 

richie tilts his head, confused, but eddie really has no fucking time to delve into his own personal insecurities, especially when he’s trying to make his best friend’s very hot older brother feel better. 

“-but like, to drive my point home or whatever, i don’t think she meant all of that. she just almost vomited from crying and as fucking disgusting as it was, it shows how much she cares about what you think which i guess is kind of cute.” 

“you think my kid sister vomiting is…cute?” richie asks, and eddie’s face flushes. 

“no, no, no! i just- well, i mean, that she really loves you. i think you saying that stuff to her wasn’t okay, but what she said wasn't either.” richie just looks at eddie thoughtfully and eddie has to turn away before he blushes too hard. what's going on with eddie? 

“i was mean to you, too. why aren’t you, like, yelling at me also?” richie asks after a few seconds of silence. 

"...i don’t wanna make you hate me any more than you already do.” eddie says with a shrug, staring at the butterfly bandage that richie’s applying to his own forehead so as not to have to look at the boy's eyes. 

richie’s eyes meet eddie’s through the mirror this time, and he turns his head to meet eddie's face. “wait- i don’t hate you, kid.” he speaks the words with so much confidence that eddie can’t even bring himself to doubt the curly haired boy’s words, despite richie's blue eyes rolling with annoyance. 

“you act like it.” eddie mumbles. richie then smirks slightly, quirking the brow that isn’t bandaged. it looks odd with a face so battered, but eddie doesn't think it looks terrible. 

“oh and you don’t, _mon chou_?” he purrs. eddie’s cheeks heat up at the quick transition in attitudes from the older boy in front of him. “all those cute little eye rolls and quips? you're annoying, rude, and pretentious, but i don't actually hate you. don't be fuckin' daft.” 

eddie doesn't know what to say. he's baffled - richie just insulted him while simultaneously admitting that he didn't hate him. "whatever. get some sleep, richie." eddie ends with before walking back into mabel's room, making a bed out of blankets and pillows from the closet, and curling up to get some well deserved rest. 

the next morning, eddie wakes up to texts from his mother telling him to come home. mabel apologizes profusely for the night before, but eddie shakes his head, hugging her multiple times. "it's okay, mabel, really. i'm just glad you guys are feeling better. go talk to him." he says, giving her one more hug before picking up his bike from their yard and setting towards the cafe to get some coffee before getting home. he feels a buzz in his pocket about twenty minutes later as he gets back onto his bike, his stomach satisfied after a medium caramel latte. he pulls his phone out, expecting it to be his mom again. instead, it's an unknown number:

**eds. mabel gave me ur number, she's is making me thank you for helping us. so thanks i guess**

it's not even a half-assed apology, so eddie doesn't respond but he at least saves richie's contact. in case he needs it in the future, obviously.

and if he rides all the way home with a little smile, that's nobody's damn business except his own. 


	7. six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> french translations at the end! :)

"so are you sure we can come over today?" eddie asks mabel as they walk down the steps of their school, tucking his phone into his back pocket. bill had just texted them that he could pick them up because he finally got a car. "yes, of course! i'm so tired of school, i can't wait to just hang out with friends." mabel says, flashing eddie a smile and a nudge. they fall on top of a bench and talk lightly about their upcoming plans for the weekend.

eventually ben and bill walk out with the flow of students and then the four of them make it to the back of the parking lot where bill's used hyundai was parked. "god, bill, this is an awful parking job." mabel jests, nudging her toe on his tire before she and ben hop in the back. "sh-shut up, tozier, at least i can drive." he quips back, making eddie snort. eddie's glad he knows how to drive, unlike mabel, who mentioned she only ever learned from what her brother had shown her, despite being seventeen. eddie even has his license- but his mother wouldn't let him drive her car, so he typically walks or rides his bike everywhere. thank god for small towns, he supposes. 

surprisingly, bill gets the four to mabel's house without any casualties and parks on the opposite side of the road in a relatively straight fashion. they straggle up her driveway, all three engrossed in ben's story about a kid in his class. "-and i was wondering today when he said that, what would that even _look_ like?" ben's sentence is cut off when mabel swings the front door open, revealing a surprising sight.

richie was laying on the floor, long limbs splayed out in his disheveled formal school uniform. eddie recognizes stan, mike, and bev all on the ground different lengths away from each other, half-grimacing and half-laughing. they're all in uniform. bev's legs are tangled with mike's and her torso is still on the stairs. stanley is on his side, actively lifting himself off a laughing richie. 

"what the hell are you guys doing?" mabel asks as the boys fully file into the room behind her. the group on the floor has looks of various stages of embarrassment ranging on their faces, but richie just has a lazy grin.eddie stares discreetly at richie, noticing the yellowing bruise on his cheekbone. his forehead has two colorful bandaids that he must have changed from the butterfly bandaid he'd placed on it that night last week. despite this, he looks handsome as ever in the white button down, and eddie feels himself blush. he wants to kick himself immediately. 

"we were leaving to go get some stuff to make dinner and i slipped and fell." bev explains through red cheeks. eddie lifts a brow, "and you _all_ fell?" 

"she was at the top of the stairs, she fell into mike. mike fell into me. richie can barely hold himself upright, let alone three extra bodies." stan gestures to richie, who in turn was staring at mabel's friends. eddie realizes that this was ben and bill's first time at mabel's house, meeting richie. let alone meeting his friends. 

"well that's just rude, stan." richie says distractedly, waving a hand and staring at eddie even when he addresses his sister. "who are these sharp gentleman, sis?" he asks, standing up next to mike and stan, wrapping an arm around bev's shoulders.   
"i'm b-bill. this is ben, and th-this is eddie." bill says, gesturing to each of them as his mouth curls into a handsome, charming smile. richie smirks. "pleasure to meet you. this is beverly, mike, and stan. i'm richie. it's good to see you, eds." richie ends with a wink. eddie has to fight off a blush, instead giving a shy grin. bill shoots eddie a look and eddie wants to scowl but he knows richie will see, so he just looks away. 

"wait, so what are you guys doing?" mabel asks, but eddie notices her eyes are on mike and not her brother. eddie smirks and takes off his backpack. 

mike perks up, "we were going to go get stuff to make dinner. we're having a movie night. do you guys want to come with?" he asks with a smile. mabel and richie, eddie notices, both look a little surprised. mabel looks to ben, bill, and eddie, who all shrug and nod their heads in agreement. "the more the merrier." richie says, slipping on converse and disappearing into the kitchen to rummage around, likely for his keys.

mabel runs upstairs to grab her wallet, leaving the two groups of friends to stand in the room waiting for them. bill, thankfully, breaks the silence. "s-so, you guys g-g-go to faraday?" he asks, eyeing their uniforms. beverly nods, pulling on her own pair of combat boots, which contrast with her school uniform. her uniqueness makes eddie smile. "yeah, we do. i wish i went to derry, though." bev mumbles. ben scoffs in surprise and eddie raises his eyebrows. "why? faraday's so pretty!" eddie asks. stan nods at him in agreement, "yeah, but the students are fucking terrible. worse than richie." he says pointedly, raising his eyebrows and giving eddie a look. bill and ben chuckle at his expression, and eddie shakes his head. "doubt it. nobody can be worse than rich-" his words die in his mouth when richie re-enters the room, eyebrow raised and keys between his teeth.

"no, go ahead." richie says through the keys, eyes rolling in annoyance. "you weren't finished, were you? _oh, richie's the worst! he's so...charming and funny and sexy and considerate, he helps me with all my homework-"_ eddie scowls and cuts him off. "i don't sound like that! and my voice isn't that high, asshole. what i was _going_ to say, if you must know, is that you're a seriously conf-" 

mabel comes back down the staircase just as eddie's about to do some more damage, but he refrains. for her sake. 

"whatever. let's go." richie says, walking out the door. "someone's grumpy." mike says under his breath, but not without a teasing smile. they all file out the door.  
  


* * *

they decided to divide and conquer once inside derry's supermarket. stan had written out and doubled (bless his heart) the grocery list so that they'd have enough for the four extra people. "this is, like, the easiest dinner to make for this many people. even richie can't mess this up." he'd said before they split up. it had earned him a sloppy attempt at a kiss on the cheek by the aforementioned tozier, making stan fake a gag. 

"i don't know who told you pouting was an option for you, but all you're making me feel right now is hatred of renee zelwegger." stan says, palming richie's kissy lips away from his body. eddie giggles into his hand, happy to spend time with all these new friends and old ones together. 

eddie, bev, and ben were tasked with getting all the produce because they were, as stan decided, seemingly the most sensible ones to be on their own. "so, fellas, how'd you meet mabel?" bev asks as they set off from the rest. ben explains the story to bev and she nods along, asking questions and laughing along with ben. when eddie turns back from picking out tomatoes, he sees they've already walked away. he rolls his eyes when he sees ben's blush. 

"hiya, eds." a voice pops out from behind an aisle and eddie jumps. he scrambles to make sure he doesn't drop the tomatoes in his hands as he looks up to see richie's face grinning down at him in all his damned angelic glory. "richie, jesus. why'd you have to jump out at me like that?" eddie hisses. richie brushes off eddie's anger and nudges him as he falls into step with him. "richie, aren't you supposed to be finding pasta with bill?" 

"i thought i could handle it. turns out i can't." he says simply. eddie delivers a glare up at the curly haired boy, which he seems to take as an offer to continue speaking. it wasn't. "say, bill's quite the looker. he had stan all blushy earlier when we met. _stan,_ eds." richie insists, like he can't even believe it. eddie shrugs. he hadn't noticed, but he wasn't surprised - who hadn't had a crush on bill at some point? "okay." is all eddie offers in response. richie was starting to make him anxious. eddie tells himself it's because he's being annoying, but he's starting to feel like there's another reason behind that.

he won't let himself open that door and play therapist for himself. that was ben and bill's job, anyways. 

richie keeps talking, and eddie starts to get frustrated as richie starts rambling about beverly. he doesn't acknowledge why. he speeds up his strides, effectively losing richie momentarily. 

eddie groans when richie reappears with his arms stretched out in an exasperated gesture. "what the hell, eds?" he asks when he gets closer. "leave me alone. go get the pasta." eddie says, acting without thinking in order to cope with the foreign feeling of pleasantness and alarm that he gets from being alone with richie. he notices richie's irritated glare. "-what? you can't shut up, and you need to get fucking pasta so we can find the others and leave already." eddie reasons. he's shocked when richie pulls two packages of pasta from his back pockets and waves them sarcastically. 

richie scoffs. “god, i should’ve know that you’d do this.” richie says with a glare as he puts the pasta back in his pockets. richie readjusts his glass frames, his nostrils flaring. eddie knows that look - richie's mad. it's the same look he was delivered when he stepped out onto the back deck the other night. "do what?" eddie asks incredulously, crossing his arms. 

richie groans, "i'm just fucking trying to get along with you because my sister really wants me to, for whatever reason. and my friends like you, too, and they want to hang out with you. and, god forbid, i might want to get to know you more too, because i thought this whole 'i hate richie' thing was just a little bit that we were doing. but fuck me for trying to be nice, right?" richie snaps, walking away from eddie and towards the group, who were already in the checkout line. eddie scoffs, annoyed that richie succeeded in making him feel slightly guilty. 

eddie catches bill's lifted eyebrow as he walks up to the group. he just shakes his head and bill smirks. "hey, guys! we were looking for you." mike says with a smile. eddie, still pretty annoyed, just nods at mike and scans the tomatoes he grabbed. richie says nothing, instead rolling his eyes, throwing eddie a glare.   
"douche chill." mabel sings jokingly into the silence. nobody responds.

* * *

throughout the night, eddie took note that the gleeful voices of the eight friends seemed to drown out the sorrowful absence in the tozier house. despite richie being super standoffish and rude towards him, eddie is really enjoying making dinner. he was completely shocked to see just how well all eight of them get along together, there really wasn't a dull moment. eddie is getting to spend more time with stan, bev, and mike while also spending time with ben, bill, and mabel.

"wow, eds, i just realized something." richie says, turning to eddie as eddie puts a bowl down on the table next to beverly and ben. he blinks up at richie in confusion. "don't call me that." eddie mumbles for maybe the thirteenth time that night. ben looks curiously at the pair in expectance from where he sits at the counter. richie clears his throat, rolling up the sleeves of the dark blue henley he'd changed into. "you really tried your hardest to make this look nice." he points, gesturing to the garnish on top of the bowl of salsa eddie had just poured. "i already got a bowl of salsa." he points to the other bowl on the table next to the chips, and eddie wrinkles his nose. he didn't want to confess that he had made a mistake to _richie_ , no matter how trivial the mistake.  
"i know you tried your best, but it just wasn't good enough." eddie sneers, pushing his bowl of salsa closer to ben. ben looks to beverly, almost as if to ask silently for help. she just smirks as she watches the squabbling pair. 

"it's a perfectly fine bowl of salsa. all you do is whine!" richie sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose and pushing his round frames up onto his head, pulling his curls back from his face.  
"can you even _see_ like that, four-eyes? do you get ready like that in the mornings, is that why you dress like this?" eddie says, knowing he's being childish. richie brings it out of him, in his defense. it's really not his fault.   
richie hums, "can't see at all." richie says, gesturing his arms out, his voice carrying across the room. "and i quite prefer it that way, right now. your cute act may work sometimes, mon chou, but orange really just isn't your color." he sneers. eddie's jaw drops. he's never wanted to punch richie more, but just as his brain starts to calculate the real pros and cons to decking richie's smug face, mabel whips around.

"oh, my god! you two are unbelievable! _pourquoi agis-tu comme ça? que t'a-t-il fait?"_ mabel yells, her face red with annoyance. stan and bill, who were previously huddled in the corner trying to ignore the commotion (probably flirting, eddie thinks briefly), are fully turned to watch now. mike stands next to mabel, looking straight at bev. eddie glances at bev to see her staring back at him with the same knowing look. 

" _quelle!?_ ce n'est absolument pas de _ma faute_! il est _tellement_ énervant!" richie fires back at his sister, gesturing with his glass of water towards eddie's furious face. never has eddie wished more to speak french. he fumes as drops of water splash down the front of his orange crewneck. 

mabel sighs, her fingers rubbing her temples in frustration. her eyes close and eddie watches as mike rubs her back. "god, okay, _je ne peux pas croire que tu fais ça_." she mutters. eddie's eyes look to richie's face to analyze his reaction to her statement, but he just finds deep blue, angry eyes staring back at him. he looks away, his cheeks warming up. from _rage._   
bev kicks her legs onto the table with a sigh, "can you guys stop bickering like school kids? the weird competitive flirting is painful and you're really upsetting mabel." noises of agreement course from the other kids, and eddie scratches his neck, his cheeks flaming again. 

eddie immediately feels guilty. "mabel, i'm-i'm sorry. uh, r-richie, sorry i called you four eyes." eddie grumbles the last part. richie rolls his eyes, but when he meets his sister's gaze, his face softens. "it's fine, eddie-spaghetti. water under _le pont_. sorry i said orange isn't your color. you look ravishing in orange. like a cute little pumpkin." he says with a smile, turning abruptly to traipse over to mabel and wrap her in a bone-crushing hug. she laughs a little when he lifts her up, hugging back. they speak quietly in french but this time, their voices are more upbeat and it ends in richie giving her a cheek pinch. 

things resume to normal fairly quickly when bill sneezes next to the salad he and stanley were trying to prepare, causing the latter boy to almost have an aneurism. they all eat dinner in the living room blasting a movie. richie and bill, who have proven to get along very well, had disappeared to make drinks for everyone about ten minutes ago.

suddenly they burst back into the living room, awkwardly hiding their hands behind their backs. eddie, along with the rest, turn to them expectantly. richie's hand shoots out to grab the remote and pause the movie, and eddie's gaze follows his hand and he frowns. "why are your hands purple?" mike takes eddie's words straight out of his mouth. bill laughs nervously, a hand shooting up to rub at his neck. his hand is so purple that it looks like it has been asphyxiated. 

"uh, does a-anyone know wh-what gets out k-kool-aid stains?" bill asks. eddie gapes at them in disbelief. richie adds on, "we already know the opposite color kool-aid doesn't work." beverly laughs so hard she snorts, causing everyone else to laugh. "are you serious?" eddie and stan both ask at the same time. this just makes beverly laugh even harder. "whatever, we'll figure it out. oh, and eds? sorry, but we got some on your sweater." richie adds on as he leaves the room. eddie jumps up. "what!?"

he runs towards the kitchen, halting in his tracks when he sees bill shaking his head. "h-he's exaggerating, eddie. he got a sp-splash on it and it c-came right out. luh-look." bill holds up eddie's jumper and he sighs in relief before shooting a glare at a smirking richie. eddie rolls his eyes. 

"right, well you guys need water, dish soap, and white vinegar." eddie states. the two boys in front of him blink dumbly. he sighs, they're lucky they're hot, because sometimes they're dafter than a light pole. "for the stains, you idiots." eddie deadpans.

"rub, don't scrub." eddie says gently, watching richie wash his hands with the mixture he'd made for them. bill is drying his hands on the dish towel. richie turns to eddie with a deep look that eddie can't quite read, squinting his eyes behind his glasses. "how do you know this shit? you intrigue me, pipsqueak."

"would you quit calling me that?" eddie hisses, with not nearly as much malice in his voice as usual. "and shut up. 'm not that interesting." why does eddie feel so damn bashful all of the sudden?

"funny. uninteresting people usually don't have to say that." richie says with a teasing smile and a shrug. "oh, shut up rich." eddie says with a giggle and a smile that just would _not fall off his face_ for the fucking life of him. richie looks thrown off and it's only then when eddie realized he just called richie something other than richie, tozier, or douchebag. he gave him a nickname. bill coughs and a few seconds pass. eddie sees bill's frame slowly inch out of the kitchen. he suddenly feels that weird feeling in his stomach again. "uh..." he quickly tries to think of a way out but is given one almost immediately. "is this the part where you admit your feelings for me, or..." richie mutters, and eddie rolls his eyes, a smile still on his face despite himself, "you ruined it. you're a terrible person."   
"i love you too, mon chou!" richie calls through chuckles when eddie leaves the kitchen. 

by the end of their third movie, eddie realizes his mom is probably already be asleep, but he should go home. "hey, before you leave, there's a party on halloween that we're probably going to go to. you guys should come with us!" beverly says, looking over to richie for approval. he shrugs with a nod. "yeah, you guys should definitely come. even grumpystiltskin over there." he mutters the last part, his chin jutting to gesture at eddie.

eddie scowls. "fuck you, richie." he growls, but bill jumps in before it can get heated. "m-my parents are t-taking my little br-brother to my grandp-parent's house for the we-weekend - th-their neighborhood gives out buh-better candy." bill explains and eddie nods; for years, the tradition was to go trick-or-treating with ben, bill, and georgie over at their grandparent's house. "w-we can all stay at my house." he suggests, and a chorus of hollering, cheering and agreement makes their plans for them.

when bill drops eddie off at the end of the night, they're both buzzing with excitement over their new friends after getting a text from beverly (who had created a group chat along with mabel containing all of them) naming the chat 'the loser's club,' which eddie thought was pretty fitting.

eddie falls asleep, actually looking forward to partying on halloween weekend for the first time in his life - even if he did have to put up with richie for a whole entire night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "pourquoi agis-tu comme ça? que t'a-t-il fait?" - "why are you acting like this? what did he do to you?"
> 
> "quelle!? ce n'est absolument pas de ma faute! il est tellement énervant!" - "what !? it's absolutely not my fault! it's so annoying!"
> 
> "je ne peux pas croire que tu fais ça." - "I can't believe you're doing this."
> 
> "le pont" - "the bridge"


	8. seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!! here's another chapter, filled with some weird shit that used to happen to me in high school. thanks for all the nice feedback :') 
> 
> warnings: drunk adults :/ but also underage drinking, p sure thats it!
> 
> unedited so sorry for any mistakes!

"wow. we look pretty good, don't we eddie?" mabel asks, twirling in her pale purple dress. eddie feels slightly weird wearing this shirt, but he still nods, playing with the toy gun in his hand. he's never, _ever_ felt the need to wear a hawaiian shirt before, because, you know... eddie has taste. but mabel had insisted that she'd take one of richie's for him to borrow. and now he's unsure why but it was kind of freaking him out to wear it. but he grins nonetheless. "you did a good job, mabel. i was pretty close to just not dressing up, but this is good. i've never seen anyone go as pumpkin and honey bunny before." 

mabel smiles at eddie, adjusting the brown wig on her head with a large grin. "that's 'cause everyone wants to look like thurman and travolta. i didn't want to do that to you because _i know_ you can't dance like they can." she teases, her body immediately starting to dance like mia wallace in pulp fiction. eddie giggles, rolling his eyes as her legs twist and her arms are held out limply in front of her. the door opens downstairs, and mabel squeals. "oh, eddie! they're here! let's go!" she grabs eddie's hands and pulls him down their staircase. eddie giggles the whole way to the stairs.

at the entrance of the house stands beverly, richie, and stan, all in costume. beverly hollers in surprise as she looks at the two of them, gushing about how their costumes look. eddie's eyebrows raise when richie - clad in a 1930's style shirt, suspenders, and tight black jeans, _holy fuckfuckfuck_ \- looks over to him. he's smothered in what looks like fake dirt and blood and there's a bullet wound on his forehead. something about the getup makes eddie want to surrender all of his previous attempts to distance himself from his feelings for the older boy. but he still has a sliver of pride so instead he nods in richie's direction. richie nods back with a smirk.

eddie's still standing on the last step of the staircase when bev hugs him. "eddie! you look great. i love this." she says, pinching his shirt between her fingers. she's wearing her red hair pin-curled back in a 30's style and wearing a tan blouse with a black skirt and bodice hugging her hips. she's got matching dirt, blood, and bullet holes with richie. eddie smiles as he recognizes them as bonnie and clyde. very fitting.

eddie hears richie and mabel jesting with each other in the corner as stan comes over. he's dressed in a white victorian ruffled shirt and black slacks. his face has been paled using makeup (likely applied by beverly) and he's wearing a cape. "vampire?" eddie guesses, and stan nods with a little eye roll. "your little friend forced me into this. could be worse, though." he shrugs, nodding his head towards mabel and eddie nods. "i think it looks great. don't worry, mabel forced me into this too." eddie, bev, and stan chuckle.   
"so eds, is that my shirt?" richie pipes up, eyeing eddie as he walks closer.

"obviously," is all eddie says as he lifts a brow at the boy who is now in front of him. "it's not like i'd have something this hideous in my _own_ closet."

eddie feels surprised when richie doesn't immediately retort back to him. richie just stares at him, eyes raking from his hawaiian shirt to eddies light blue jeans to his white undershirt then back up to his face. the tall boy instead shrugs, his glass-less face looking different, yet not unpleasant. much older, but maybe that's the dirt and blood. he's looking straight into eddie's eyes, his own icy blue ones boring through eddie's brown ones and eddie kind of feels like richie might lean in and do something very bad, something that he kind of really wants him to do. just to see what it's like. 

eddie's suddenly very thankful he's still standing up on the steps, because he's almost richie's height now. but richie doesn't move. instead, "you look good." comes out of richie's pink lips with so much sincerity that even mabel's voice quiets from her conversation with the others. eddie smiles out of shock, his face unable to tame the bright blush dusting his cheeks. "oh, thanks. you do too." then, because everyone's watching, eddie lifts his fake gun and nudges it on richie's forehead. the boy's eyebrows raise in response, but he doesn't lean away. 

"i like _this_ a lot. looks like someone got to you before i did." eddie teases, his gun tapping against the fake bullet wound. eddie internally smirks when he takes in richie's flustered look. for the first time possibly ever, richie's mouth hangs open and no words come out. unfortunately, he snaps out of it before eddie can claim that he won.  
"it would be an honor to be shot by you, mon chou. 'n beverly did the makeup, of course." he says, his eyes still slightly dazed, but before anyone else can say anything or move the front door opens again. 

ben and mike, clad in lifeguard shirts and red swim trunks, walk through the door. at the sight of the new visitors, richie slinks away from eddie to greet them. eddie quickly lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding and looks to mabel, who looks back to him with a smirk. he walks towards her and she mumbles, "looks like you two have kissed and made up since last time." eddie gives her a look and shoves her. she stumbles a bit and laughs. "yeah, yeah, go talk to _mike_ , asshole." eddie hisses, and she laughs harder. 

"no way!" bev suddenly yelps. her exclamation is followed by laughter by the rest of the group and eddie walks over, running a hand through his waves as he shoots one last glare at mabel. he's so flustered - he can't believe mabel would tease him about _her own older brother_. and holy shit, richie looks fucking good and eddie's heart is still beating fifty times the normal amount. is he alive?

he snaps back to reality when his eyes catch what bev was laughing at. stan is standing next to bill, who are both glaring at mabel. "what, stan?" she asks innocently. in response, he says nothing and gestures to bill. bill stands a few feet away from him, wearing nearly an identical costume to the one stan wears. "m-mabel, you p-picked this out for m-me." bill deadpans, lifting a brow.  
"seriously? she helped me pick mine out too. you dick." stan glares at her again even though a rosy blush on his cheeks were peeking from behind the white face makeup. "you can't tell me that you just...ran out of ideas." 

"there can be two draculas. you both look amazing." ben says, pushing his sunglasses up onto his head. eddie chuckles but nods in agreement when bill shoots him a glare. a slow thrumming noise sounds in the house, making everyone frown in confusion. eddie recognizes it as a garage door. he looks at his watch, and see it reads 9:23PM. who in the hell is that? 

wait... could that be their parents? his stomach drops and mabel suddenly runs out of sight. a door opens, then slams shut quickly. "hey, guys, um. let's head out!" she says, out of breath as she reappears just as quickly as she appeared. eddie frowns but nods. the group continues to mess around - mike puts his sunglasses on bill's pale vampire face and stan chuckles as bev tries swinging her purse around her neck. eddie feels anxious as the tozier siblings look. 

“guys! we're leaving now." richie snaps, pointing to the door. everyone looks surprised. "w-we'll be right there, just- wait for us outside!" mabel hisses, eyes just as wide as richie's. they look scared. eddie wants to throw up.

as the rest of them file out the front door, eddie turns his head to see richie and mabel standing there anxiously, hands wringing together and furrowed brows.

it's dark on the front lawn but surprisingly pleasant outside and eddie doesn't feel cold in just this shirt. not his shirt, he reminds himself. his face feels hot. but it's quiet because now all six of them are soberingly aware of the car in the driveway that was not there when they all had arrived. "have any of you guys met their parents?" ben asks quietly. mike, stan, and beverly share a look. "i have. twice." stan says, looking up to the house and back to the group sitting in the grass. "both times were on accident, and... um," stan trails off when the sound of footsteps makes them all jump. eddie whirls his head around expecting to see the siblings, but instead he's met with a woman he's never seen before. 

her dress is blue and slightly old-fashioned looking. her smile is uneasy and her blue eyes can't really focus on anything. he'd recognize those eyes anywhere, though. bright fucking blue. 

"what are a bunch of kids doing outside on my lawn?" she asks, her hands fumbling to sit at her hips. everyone looks at each other, feeling as if they'd just been caught doing something they weren't supposed to. stan clears his throat, standing up. "hi, mrs. tozier, it's stanley. it's nice to see you again." he says slowly, as if talking to a child. the rest of the group stands up and eddie suddenly recognizes the smell of booze as he gets closer to the woman.

his stomach drops and his eyes meet beverly's briefly. she nods and eddie understands. he feels sick at the thought of mabel and richie's absent parents, or at least their mom, coming home piss drunk.

"stanley, dear. why are you wearing that cape?" she laughs, her smile beautiful but almost sad.   
"i-it's _halloween_ , mrs. tozier." stan explains, eyes flitting to the front door of the house, where the siblings are making their way towards them. the woman looks lost and eddie's about to reach out because he's terrified that she's going to fall over.

"mom." richie calls, half shocked. "c'mon, let's go inside, dad's waiting." mabel grabs her elbow gently, guiding her up as she waves over her shoulder. 

richie looks at the whole group and everyone looks back. he's completely red in embarrassment, his eyebrows drawn over his eyes and eddie kind of wants to hug him and tell him that he's okay and nobody is judging them. richie lets off a dry laugh, "didn't realize ol' went and mags would be back so soon. sorry, chaps." he brushes it off, and the group courses phrases of endearment and "it's okay," making richie grin. mabel walks back out, shaking her head. bev pulls her into her side as the group sets off, walking towards bill's house to drop off their stuff. "-so who's gonna be our DD so that we can get back to bill's in one piece tonight?" bev asks, her arm linked with mabel's. everyone suddenly looks at each other before slamming their fingers onto their noses. 

eddie groans and giggles when they all do 'nose goes' at the same time, but his laugh dies when he realizes that means they still don't have anyone. and _no way_ is he giving up a night of drinking.

richie, from in between mike and eddie, perks up. "guys, guys!" he tries to calm everyone's chatter, "let's take a vote." he says with raised brows. everyone voices in agreement as they turn the corner onto bill's street. "guh-good idea! a s-secret vote. everyone, close your ey-eyes." bill says, his pale hand reaching up to cover his handsome face. everyone obliges and soon they're walking down the street blindly. eddie, at the sudden blindness of his own hand, feels himself scuff the ankles of whoever was walking in front of him. he mumbles an apology, and richie snorts from his right. eddie's eyebrows furrow as he realizes something. "wait, we won't know the result!" eddie yelps.

"-well then, say your vote out loud!" stan injects, sounding exasperated. clearly, none of them wanted to stay sober tonight.   
"-but then we'll recognize our voices!" mabel screeches, and eddie laughs at the absurdity of their situation, feeling his eyelashes brush against the palm of his closed hand. "stan's got a point." richie deadpans, making eddie chuckle quietly. "richie, that was me and you know it." mabel grumbles from up ahead, making everyone laugh again. eddie giggles loudly. he feels a light elbow to his ribs and he turns his head up to where he suspects richie's face must be even though his hand still covers his face. 

richie laughs and a large hand pulls eddie's own hand from his eyes, revealing richie's soft, grinning face. "sorry sis." richie calls with a shurg, not looking sorry at all and staring at eddie. his eyelid dropping in a quick wink. eddie looks away. 

in the end, it was mike who gave in and committed to staying sober. mabel had been so excited that she kissed his cheek and in turn he had beamed so largely that eddie thought he might have split his face in half with the effort. 

* * *

"richie, you've got way too much pride. god." stan says with a fond eye roll, smiling when richie slings an arm around him before sliding into the seat of the car. they'd just finished pregaming at bill's, dropping off their overnight stuff and most of them already feeling tipsy. richie had been bragging about how he'd convinced his _ethics_ teacher to pass him after one speech on the first day of the semester. eddie didn't believe it one fucking bit.

"okay, stanley. would somebody with too much pride do this?" richie says confidently, pressing a button on his phone. an automated voice reads, "current account balance: $44.48"   
he blinks at the group expectantly, a smug look coming over his face as if he'd just won. "consider yourselves tozier'd." 

beverly laughs drunkenly in the back and stan's face scrunches in a giggle, his hands covering his mouth. bill's chuckling as he stares out the window from the middle seat. 

eddie has been tossed on top of richie and bill's laps in the backseat because ben and bev claimed the trunk before he could. eddie barely protests as bill shoves eddie's ass over and over until he's on top of richie. mabel snickers from the passenger seat when eddie snuggles in between the two boy's chests, feeling loopy and content. 

he's loopy, that is, until richie's arm comes to land on eddie's thigh.

his head snaps up to mabel, to see if she noticed, but if she did she didn't seem to care. bill's smirking and nudging stan on his other side, but the gesture seems innocent enough. _that could be about anything,_ eddie thinks. 

but eddie is frozen. what does he do? nobody's ever put their hands on his thigh like that, except mabel when she laughs really hard. but even then, she always pulls her hand away immediately. 

eddie swallows, squirming and trying to shift himself to get more comfortable on richie's lap. mostly a distraction from the slender hand that's rubbing gentle circles into his upper thigh through his jeans. right as eddie's about to try and slide into bill's lap as discreetly as possible, mike goes over a small speed bump and eddie hits his head on the ceiling of the car. "ow, mike! be careful, do you know how dangerous this is? i don't have a seatbelt, i could have gotten impaled, i could have gone through the windshield-" ben's voice, muffled from the back trunk, says, "someone shut him up." 

eddie whirls around to tease ben, moving his hips so he can see into the back. he opens his mouth to speak, but he can only squeak. richie's cold hands just grabbed firmly onto eddie's hips. he freezes in his spot as he feels richie's breath on his neck. "you're gonna have to stop moving like that." richie mutters lowly - quietly enough that eddie's not even sure if _he_ heard it. his stomach flips and he looks to his left quickly to see of bill or stan heard, but bill's talking to mabel, completely unaware. 

eddie gives up, now too alarmed to bitch to ben, and sits still as he twists back around. richie's hands are still on both sides of his waist and eddie feels like if he moves a muscle richie's hands will fall away.

he does not want that to happen.

so he sits rigidly, hands in his lap as they drive through the decrepit town. "hey, have you guys ever been in there?" mike asks, pointing to a church-funded but now abandoned building. derry was weird. "my family used to go to services there." eddie nods, "my ma used to make me go there, too. maybe we saw each other when we were ten and had no idea." eddie says with a giggle, his body relaxing again, this time right against richie's chest. god, that alcohol went straight to eddie's head.

mabel snorts. "nah, we haven't. richie would never set foot in there. he's afraid of god." she teases, leaning back to wink at richie. stan laughs, "yeah, you hate religion." he jokes. richie sits up a bit and eddie's body moves with his. "um, _no,_ stanley lazarus uris, i don't hate religion." richie defends drunkenly. he did have like, eight shots in a town right before they left. jesus. the car erupts in chuckles from the name that richie calls stan which is clearly not his middle name.

richie places his palms onto eddie's thighs, this time one on each leg. eddie's eyes widen in wonder as he stares down. his hands are so big! "you see...to me, religion is like paul rudd." richie starts, bev letting out a bewildered, "what?!" from the back.

bill holds his hands up, "give the man t-time to explain!" he says with a chuckle.   
richie winks at him gratefully before starting his explanation. "so i see the appeal, and i would never take it away from anyone. but i would also never stand _in line_ for it." richie exclaims as they pull up to a road that has lots of cars parked along it. they must be here. bill turns to him, "wait, you d-don't like paul rudd?"

the car bursts into arguments about paul rudd, richie, and the pros and cons of 90's rom coms. eddie just giggles, his eyes closed as he leans his head back. he feels a heavy weight lay on top of his own head and can't determine what it is until he feels curls brush the top of his hair. he smiles softly, staring up at mike and making eye contact with him through the mirror. the boy winks and eddie's face heats up. 

"rich, you're just wrong. paul rudd is the epitome of a dreamboat and that's the truth." bev calls from the back. eddie can't help but nod. "yeah, this isn't relative at all, richie. this is the difference between right and wrong. and, like always, you're wrong." eddie snarks. 

richie sighs, "alright kids. let me let you in on a little secret. i discovered at a very early age that if i talked long enough, i could make anything right or wrong. so either _I'm god_ , or truth is relative. either way: suck my dick." richie proclaims. mabel turns to glare at him playfully. eddie rolls his eyes and bill high fives him. 

"we're here. thank god, i can't listen to richie for one more minute." mike exclaims. 

* * *

eddie should have expected it, but after pregaming at bill's and that exciting and terrifying car ride to the town over, his vision was buzzing around a huge castle-like home. it was full of kids that he doesn't recognize and he's lost most of his friends to the crowd in the last thirsty minutes of arriving. the malibu and sprite in his cup was almost gone again - he could have sworn he had just poured himself that cup. weird. he giggles to himself, grinning at the ground as he takes in the music thumping in the room. oh boy, he's a lil' drunk. he giggles to himself again.

"eddie!" mabel calls from afar making his head shoot up. mabel's over with mike and a few kids who must go to school with him in the living room. she's holding her toy gun in a slightly obscene gesture which makes eddie chuckle, shaking his head. mike's suddenly being tugged by his friends down a staircase and he pulls mabel with him. eddie watches them go with a smile. 

he decides he should go and get another drink, or maybe try to find bill, ben and stan, so he shuffles his feet with a dopey grin on his face towards the kitchen. he takes a wrong turn at some point, though, and finds himself in a dimly lit room with an air hockey table and several couches. there are only a few other people in the room and they're invested in their own conversations. eddie rolls his eyes at himself before chuckling. oh, man, he might be more drunk than he planned. he's an idiot. 

"eddie-spaghetti?" a deep voice hollers, making eddie spin on his white sneakers. richie tozier smirks at him, in all his fake-bloody glory. eddie rolls his eyes at the stupid nickname but his inebriated mind won't stop his face from grinning at the boy in front of him. "hi, richie. how's the party?" eddie asks bashfully. richie beams at him for an unknown reason and pulls him onto the upholstered couch next to him. "it's been great, kid. i'm kind of a big deal around here." richie slurs with a wink. eddie scowls, having recognized that richie's words, _while true,_ are pretty obnoxious. the moment they'd walked in, eddie swore the place erupted in applause for the boy.  
"whatever. what are you doing here?" eddie asks him, not adding the second part of his question, _with me?_

"uh, 'm just here to establish an alibi." richie slurs again, a smile on his lips. eddie eyebrows raise, "alibi? richie, what did you do?" he hisses and richie just giggles. he fucking giggles- head tilted back, eyes scrunched, large white teeth glinting and shoulders shaking. eddie melts into a grinning mess. 

"that was a joke, eds. i just wanted to talk to you but i couldn't just walk up and speak without you thinking i had some ulterior motive." the boy says with a warm glow on his cheeks. he was very drunk, eddie could tell. 

"you know, you make it hard to not suspect an ulterior motive." eddie snorts, giving richie a side glance. "plus, isn't that basically what you did?" 

"hey, you looked pretty fuckin' happy about it, pipsqueak." richie quips with a serious look. eddie's face burns at the accusation, and he hides his blush behind his solo cup. "you're more than welcome to leave, richie." eddie mutters. richie just laughs, though, sipping from a cup of his own. "eds, it's not like 'm gonna hurt you. i rarely bite. unlike my sister." he says, immediately unbuttoning his shirt.

eddie's stomach flutters with butterflies as he watches richie unbutton the top three. "rich, what are you doing?" he asks quickly with a grin, his head whipping around to see all the kids at the party. "richie, what the hell?!" eddie hisses, his face glowing red. he's never felt so free - plastered at some rich kid's mansion on halloween as richie unbuttons his shirt in the middle of the room.

the other people in the room don't even seem to care. richie stops then, pointing to a faded, curved scar on his (surprisingly toned - not that eddie's looking) left pec.

eddie blinks and then lets out a loud laugh. "are you saying _mabel_ did that?" eddie touches the scar. richie laughs through his nose, "yeah, she did. we were in colorado - up in the mountains. we were swimming in a lake and she got mad at me..." richie trails off from his story as his eyes meet eddie's. he doesn't finish his thought, instead stares at eddie. he's about to ask why the fuck richie was suddenly frozen over until richie clears his throat, his eyes glancing down to his own chest.

a hand is laid over richie's pec, a thumb rubbing over the scar gently. wait, is that eddie's hand!? eddie blinks again, before snatching his hand away.

"what?" eddie snaps, quick to defend himself. "do you have a problem?" 

richie's got his lip caught between his teeth and he's staring at eddie in a way that he thinks he should like as much as he does. "not at all, eds." richie mumbles, smiling down at eddie. he feels his stomach swirls with something hot that eddie's pretty sure might be lust but it also _may_ be the contents of the four drinks and three shots he's had. 

"in fact, i’ve realised that you keep distracting me from my daily rants and, holy shit, do i love it.” richie mutters, a sly grin on his face. eddie's eyes widen microscopically. "how much have you had, rich?" eddie asks. richie shrugs with a grin, holding up a 'four.'

"only eight, baby. i've been counting, just for you. but i'm not a lightweight, don't you worry about me, dear. what about you, mon chou?" he lifts his eyebrows. he noticed pretty early on in the night that richie was going very hard. eddie's not surprised at this admission - the only reason that they're not arguing is because they're both drunk. he tells him as much. "i'm drunk. maybe that's why i don't want to punch you." he says with a shrug. his head feels buzzy. richie hums. "how many drinks?" richie asks, leaning back on the couch. eddie speaks, more on his own subject than what richie's just asked.

"well, it makes sense, you know. why you're being all flirty and even just a decent person with me right now. you're also drunk. you'd never do this any other way. and three." eddie mutters with a glare towards the curly haired boy who smelled like spearmint, musk, and cinnamon. "what do you mean?" richie asks, sounding defensive. eddie snorts, not meeting his eyes and unable to control his mouth. "what, you're just a dick, richie. that's how it is. i'm just saying, we're probably getting along because i'm piss drunk and don't know any better." eddie says. at his words, though, richie just looks at him with an unreadable expression and it makes him nervous so he speaks more. "-and don't give me an 'oh, so lightweight, hah-hah, eddie's small!' speech, please. i don't want your _bullshit._ "

"fine." richie whispers with a frown. "i wasn't going to, anyways." he mutters, standing up. eddie watches him in confusion. "where are you going?" eddie calls, but richie just leaves. 

wait, what did he do? was he mean? 

he can't really remember anything he just said. his stomach hurts.

* * *

eddie found stan shortly after, and spent the next hour with him, playing air hockey. when they got bored, they start to walk towards the kitchen to find some others. they were talking about toy story and how eddie had had a crush on woody when he was younger as suddenly a loud roar from the kitchen makes eddie run into someone in his distraction. 

"hey, toy stor- bill!" stan yells drunkenly. eddie, in his drunken mind, looses his control and laughs loudly at this mix-up. "h-hey, stan!" bill smiles, putting a hand on stan's shoulder. eddie stares at bill, who finally notices him and adds, "o-oh, hey, eddie!"

"what's going on?" eddie asks, trying to look around bill. bill grimaces. "that's actually why i'm leaving, trying to f-find mabel. she says richie just th-threw up."

stan wrinkles his nose, and eddie fake gags. "gross." bill mumbles in agreement. 

"guys!" mabel calls from the front room. they all turn and see she's standing with mike, bev, ben, and richie. eddie walks towards her, pulling her into a hug. she giggles and hugs him back. it doesn't take more than five seconds to see how fucking wasted richie is. a quick glance at his phone shows that it's only 11:47, and richie is slurring and yelling and dancing boisterously, paying eddie and the others no attention as he gives some girl a kiss on the cheek. she giggles as she looks at him and eddie literally wants to rip every strand of hair from his head.   
"we really need to get richie out of here." mabel says, sounding nervous. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been really busy lately because my university's finals are coming up so sorry this took a while to upload! hoping to get another chapter up in the next few days though, so let me know if you guys want that :)


	9. eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: mentions of abuse, some violence :( and underaged drinking, swearing, booyah
> 
> unedited
> 
> enjoy :)

it takes almost fifteen minutes to drag richie out of the party because he can't stop talking to everyone. eddie gets herded to the car just as he sees richie bowing for bystanders who cheer him on. 

"oh, great. little miss sunshine's here, everyone." richie announces loudly, looking at eddie as he gets shoved into the car by beverly. eddie's not totally sure why he feels more hurt than usual by his words. "shut up, trashmouth." eddie snaps. "what, you can dish it but you can't take it? whatever." richie mutters, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "at least i get my lap to myself this time 'round. you're welcome, you two." richie slurs, nudging stan as he's perched awkwardly on bill's lap. it's quiet for a second in the group before mabel drunkenly turns to richie from the front. “fuck’s _sake,_ why are you like this?” mabel asks richie with an awkward laugh. richie rolls his eyes. “it's not like they're being discreet.” richie mumbles, shoving his sister away. "says y-you." bill mumbles. at everyone's awkward pause, bev puts a hand on richie's shoulder. "rich, you should slow down a bit." she smiles at him, and he gives in. "alright, bevie. whatever you want. oh, sorry, sissy!" richie says but mabel rolls her eyes, looking frustrated. "hey! my life is a fucking movie. hm, haystack! I want you to play the role of my father." richie pipes up, turning to look back at ben. "pretty please?" he asks. ben chuckles, "i do not want to be your dad, richie."

"perfect, you already know your lines." richie slurs. it's silent in the car and richie guffaws loudly. eddie rests his forehead against the window. god, this was going to be a long night. 

* * *

eddie was one of the last ones awake. it was him, bill, stan, and richie still kicking at one thirty - still pretty early compared to usual parties. however, richie had kind of pissed in the cereal by getting really fucked up and now everyone is pretty tuckered out. he was acting like a toddler the whole ride home and immediately threw up when they got back to bill's. ben helped him the whole time, bless his heart, because eddie was too frustrated to do anything effective to help him. 

now, beverly was passed out with mabel on the couch, both clad in old t shirts of bill's and pajama pants. mike and ben were sleeping on the floor below them on an air mattress. richie had just come from the bathroom with stan where they'd both thrown up again. eddie looks away when his eyes meet richie's electric blue ones - but not before catching the nasty glare that richie throws him. 

whoa. he frowns.

"r-rich, why don't you go lay d-down in my ruh-room?" bill asks when he sees richie's head falling in exhaustion. "i don't wanna go by myself." richie mumbles. eddie looks down at the table, but at the silence that follows he looks back up. stan and bill are looking at him expectantly. "why me?" eddie whines. "god, not him, please." richie groans, standing and stumbling towards bill's stairs. the three left quickly raise their fingers to their noses, but eddie's last. he groans, "god, fine! you guys suck." he glares at the smirking boys as he stands up.  
"g-go sort it out with h-him. a-and you can sleep up there t-too!" bill calls and eddie flips a finger over his shoulder as he tries to catch up to a piss drunk richie. 

richie's standing away from him and hugging himself when eddie walks into bill's room. he sighs. this is going to suck. "alright, richie, bill said there's an unused toothbrush in the bathroom." eddie mumbles. richie turns to look at him and eddie's not totally able to tell what his face emotes. maybe it's because he's still definitely not sober. "kay." is all he says, brushing past him and entering bill's bathroom. 

he hears the shower turns on and eddie sighs, running his hands through his hair before pulling blankets out of bill's closet to make a makeshift bed on the floor. he racks his brain trying to figure out why richie was acting this way. it's not because he's drunk, because eddie saw richie _way more_ drunk earlier at the party. he was being rowdy with everyone besides eddie, so, it must have been something eddie did - he's not extremely drunk anymore, but he's still a little giggly; enough to trip on his feet while getting a pillow from the bed.

eddie pulls off his jeans, pulling on his old red pair of shorts and plugging his phone into the charger in the corner. he yelps quietly when the door opens and richie shuffles in. eddie turns and his mouth freezes open when he catches richie, shirtless with black sweats. drops of water cascade down his pale chest from his hair and eddie blushes, averting his eyes. richie says nothing, walking fully into the room and dropping a towel in bill's laundry basket. 

"um, you can have bill's bed. do you need water?" eddie asks shyly. he's not sure why he cares that richie's mad, but it's hurting him more than it should.   
"i'm fine. and you can have the bed." he says shortly, sitting on top of the blankets eddie had set for himself after he pulls a dark blue shirt over his head. 

"oh, um... okay. do y-are you okay, richie?" eddie asks quietly. 

“hm. sure, pipsqueak." he says with a glare at the ground. his fingers pull at the carpet under the blanket. eddie sighs, looking down at the stubborn boy and losing patience.   
"what's your deal, richie?" eddie says, getting annoyed now.  
"i feel my business should be saved for later, lest it ruin the moment.” richie says eloquently but with a scoff, facing away from eddie.

so eddie sits down next to him on the blankets gently, careful to leave a decent amount of space between them. his mind flashes to earlier in the night when he had richie's big hands on his hips; before richie got really drunk. he blinks.

"what moment?" eddie asks gently, his eyes wide as he stares at richie's profile. _this boy is an enigma_ , eddie thinks. he's so beautiful. richie nods, looking out the window with a sigh. a light chuckle is all he offers.

eddie stares, unashamed; perhaps it's the alcohol, or perhaps he's just tired of hiding his attraction every waking moment. nevertheless, he stares at the older boy, at his glasses, at his damp curls, his crooked nose and beautiful freckles. they're constellations, and eddie wants to touch them. eddie wants to touch _all_ of him. 

richie finally looks at eddie and seems startled to see eddie already watching him softly. richie was much closer than eddie'd expected and his lips part in surprise. "rich..." he whispers, his eyes glancing down to richie's lips.

he stares in awe as richie's tongue darts out and coats his bottom lip. for a moment, eddie swears richie is about to kiss him, and _god_ how he wishes he would. 

but instead, richie clears his throat, leaning back. eddie misses the proximity immediately and has to hold back from chasing his body as he pulls away. "you know, i like it when you wear my clothes, kid." he says with a smirk. eddie blinks, shaking his head and standing up. "yeah, well i hated it. this thing is god awful." eddie says, lying through his teeth as he pulls it off. richie also stands up, walking over to bill's record player and sorting through his albums. eddie sits on the bed and takes the moment in. the clock says 1:02 on bill's bedside table, the window is cracked barely and the cold nighttime air leaks through the window and rustles richie's wild hair gently. he's bathed in blue light from the moon. the light casts shadows that dance across his face, his eyelashes casting shadows onto his cheekbones from under his glasses. 

his back is so broad, his shoulders more muscular than they should be for such a skinny boy. eddie doesn't notice that he's given up on the albums and has turned back. the silence feels heavy as eddie watches him warily. 

richie just sits again though, tilting his head against the mattress. "i can’t do anything right.” richie whispers, not looking at eddie. he feels his stomach hollow at richie's words. "richie. i know your f-" 

but he's cut off by richie shaking his head abruptly, speaking again. "no, eds, it's not just with my sister, or just _you_. it's with everyone." 

it's silent and richie looks vulnerable, almost small as he picks at part of his sweats. "like, i just... i feel like i'm fucking pathetic. my whole life, just... god, i'm a fuck up."   
"richie, that - that's not true, people love you." eddie says honestly. every person that eddie's seen richie interact with has loved richie. even with the snark, the attitude, the boisterous humor, the loud, awkward humor, and the mystery, richie tozier was an incredible person. 

but richie shakes his head, still still staring intently at the floor below his feet. “why are you lying to me?” he whispers. eddie's heart breaks. he shakes his head lightly, leaning forward so he's balanced on his palms, "richie, c'mon, you can talk to me." he says softly. "what's going on?" 

it's quiet and richie sighs. "did mabel ever tell you why we moved here?" richie asks and eddie's breath catches in his chest. fuck, he's been wondering about this family and their secrets for ages. "n-no, i don't think so." eddie says softly. 

richie chuckles dryly. 

"i used to do theater, believe it or not." richie starts, but eddie's not very surprised. he's seen richie belt out enough music to know that he's got pipes. "but, uh, one day i got into a fight...on stage... during a show. i-i broke a kid's nose. and then i got expelled." 

eddie blinks, not expecting that. he hopes his face is neutral, but he realizes it doesn't matter because richie's been avoiding eye contact for a while.

"now, you see... went tozier doesn't quite like anything i do, so he was pretty worked up when he found out. and that night, i, uh..." he trails off, looking nervous. "well, i fell down the staircase when the pops and i were arguing. broke my collarbone." he says quietly, staring at the ground stoically. eddie's heart drops. he's afraid to ask, but he can see how richie is opening up to him. he just wants richie to be okay. "did he..." eddie asks softly. 

for the first time in several minutes, richie's eyes meet eddie's. the normally electric blue is stormy and piercing, rimmed with unshed tears. eddie thinks he might cry, too. richie nods and that's all eddie needs to know. 

richie's own father pushed him down the stairs and broke his collarbone. eddie feels sick. "richie..." 

"i'm fine now, but... well, things still aren't too good. my dad, he's not around enough to push me around much now that we're here in derry. and my mom... even when she's _home_ she's barely _there_ , you know? but i..." richie's voice cracks and he shakes his head, fingers coming up to rub his eyes under his glasses. they're shaking. "can i- um, can i have a hug?" he asks brokenly.

eddie can't help himself as he bursts over to wrap his arms around richie's neck. richie doesn't take more than a split second to wrap his arms around his back, flattening his legs down and pulling eddie over so he's half in his lap. eddie's heart is fucking running a marathon, but he doesn't care when he feels richie nose into eddie's neck. 

eddie strokes richie's back where his palms land and he basks in the silence and peacefulness of the moment. richie's clinging to him and breathing shallowly, his left hand resting on the curve of eddie's hip. "thanks, kid." richie whispers right into eddie's ear. _holy shit,_ eddie thinks. he hopes richie doesn't feel his full body shiver. 

richie pulls away, eyeing eddie's scarlet face. "sorry to get all chummy on you." richie says bashfully. eddie grins, feeling slightly shy, "rich, it's totally okay, i care about you. and.. i want you to be with you. er, i mean - t-to help, whenever you need it." eddie responds, stumbling over his words at the end. as he's speaking, he realizes that he's basically straddling one of richie's thighs with richie's arms encircled around his waist. 

richie just smiles a tight-lipped smile, his knuckles reaching up to graze eddie's cheek. eddie relaxes as he realizes that richie didn't seem to catch his awkward slip-up. "eds, you really don't know how much that means." he whispers. eddie shrugs one shoulder, feeling bashful under the gaze of the older boy. his fingers play with the hem of richie's collar. "i should... i should brush my teeth." eddie whispers. richie's arms fall from his waist and he feels cold where the arms were. they'd never been close before, not like this. 

richie was already under the covers on the blankets eddie set up on the floor with his eyes already closed when eddie comes in. he grins stupidly, his stomach fluttering when he realizes that richie wanted _him_ to have the bed.

he slides into the covers quietly and turns off bill's lamp. it's quiet for twenty minutes as eddie tosses and turns on the bed. he can't stop thinking about the boy on the floor below him. all these months, he's been trying to suppress feelings for richie. he's known that, but... after tonight, he can't stop thinking that those feelings may be more than physical attraction. 

because... eddie likes the way richie laughs. he likes that richie is a genius but is _insanely_ humble. in fact, richie is an incredible singer, intellectual, and is surprisingly adept at most things. eddie likes that richie tried to learn how to sign so he could tell eddie that he fucked his mom in ASL. he likes that richie loves to yo-yo and skate and sing-narrate whatever he's doing. he likes when richie gets restless and jolts the floor by his legs bouncing. he likes when richie jokes around and that he's so alive and that he sometimes becomes fearless. and eddie likes that richie teases his friends because richie may not see it, but everybody loves him and eddie sees how fully richie loves in return. he likes how bold he is, he likes when richie wears the stupid bold patterns and the dumb glasses.

eddie likes that richie is himself. 

and he thinks that richie has maybe always wanted to be nice, to be friends with eddie, and maybe that's not just for the sake of mabel or for their friend group. eddie's been so stubborn and nervous that richie would hate him if he knew him better that eddie's blinded himself to the fact that maybe, just maybe, richie likes him back. 

"richie?" eddie calls out meekly, biting his lip into the dark. the floor creaks from below him. he lets out a quiet sigh. “why are you awake right now?” is the boy's response. eddie blinks - he can't very well say _i was thinking about you,_ so he instead grumbles, "well why are you awake?" 

"guess i'm just thinking." richie says through a sigh. he sounds somber and eddie feels his stomach twist with guilt. 

"what about?" 

"oh, nothing, eds. what's up?"

"um, d- did i do something earlier tonight? y'know, i just feel like i upset you." he says, feeling vulnerable and embarrassed. 

"it's not a big deal, kid."

eddie feels bad, his mind flickering through the night and settling on their conversation at the party. that he kept saying that they only got along because they were drunk. he was such a dick. "richie, i'm really sorry that i said th-"

"what's your favorite candy?" richie mumbles in the dark. 

"what? seriously?" eddie asks because he's fucking freaking out with his new found revelations about the boy that's one foot below him, and he's trying to apologize, and honestly, he still kind of feels weird about sleeping in bill's room with richie. though, he supposes that richie is his friend now, too. _friend..._

"yes, eds. what is it?" richie's voice sounds annoyed and eddie hears richie shift around on the ground. he sighs, rubbing his eyes. "i don't know. i like gummy bears." eddie says quietly after a moment of thought. there's a quiet laugh in the darkness. " _bien sûr._ " richie mumbles. eddie scoffs, not knowing the words but recognizing the patronizing tone that richie does so well. "well, what's yours, then?"  
" _black licorice,_ i think." richie says after a few moments. eddie laughs at that - he has to. "are you kidding? that's fucking disgusting." eddie responds, somewhat disbelieving. who in their right mind would like black licorice? let alone like it enough for it to be their favorite candy? it's silent for a long time until eddie hears richie mumble out a quiet, "yeah." 

it's a few moments before richie speaks again. "eddie, do you know how fuckin' uncomfortable it is down here? how do you do this when you stay with bill?" richie complains. eddie snorts, "i don't. we usually share the bed." 

"then what the hell am i doing down here?" richie jests. eddie hears the joke in his voice, he knows he's not expecting to share the bed with eddie.

he can't stop himself though, wanting to be as close to richie as he can. he can allow himself to be selfish for once. "come up then, asshole." he says, pulling back the covers and scooting towards the wall. "you serious?" richie asks quietly. "uh, yeah. if you want." eddie then closes his eyes, his cheeks turning red.

his face turns redder when he feels the mattress dip next to him. "this is much better, mon chou." richie whispers, his long frame instantly warming eddie's body. they're not touching each other, but they're close enough to feel each other. "thanks. happy halloween, eds." is the only thing he says after that. 

eddie grins into the dark.


	10. nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ok i love eddie what the fuck

eddie wakes up slowly and regretfully to boisterous, distant laughter and the far away sounds of clanging metal.

he feels like he's submerged under warm water and the noise he hears is coming from somewhere above the surface. it's so warm and he's so exhausted and he doesn't want to slip out from the blissful in-between of consciousness and sleep. there's light shining somewhere outside eddie's world that makes the back of his eyelids glow a faint red, so he pushes his face further towards the pillow his body was facing, relishing in the warmth that he gets as he nuzzles his face down into the duvet. but one shallow movement from where his face lies makes eddie jolt awake, eyes widening as he sucks in a gasp. 

the pillow he'd nuzzled into was in fact richie tozier's sleeping body. eddie's hand is wrapped around richie's upper arm and he suspects that it's been there for a while. his chest tickles with butterflies at their position.

eddie reaches up to scrub his sleep-bleary eyes as he recalls inviting richie to climb up onto the bed with him last night. with a sigh of relief, eddie notes that richie is still very much asleep. in fact, eddie has to physically stop himself with a hand over his mouth from outwardly squeal at the sight in front of him.

richie's tall body is curled in on himself slightly out towards the edge of bill's bed, facing eddie. he's on his side with both of his hands tucked between the pillow and his head, looking the most relaxed and innocent that he's ever seen richie look. his eyelashes flutter on the skin below his eyes delicately, his lips parted slightly as soft breaths puff out rhythmically. his hair is splayed over his face and the pillow, not quite long enough to cover his eyes when he's upright and conscious but now, as he sleeps, they're covering his face. he looks so innocent, so peaceful... eddie's heart aches as he remembers everything from last night.

how could anyone ever hurt this boy? 

his hand itched to brush his curls from his face, to watch richie wake up and maybe pull him towards him by his neck, maybe press his lips to his neck, maybe even... kiss him. oh... eddie wants to kiss him. 

but finally he doesn't suppress the feelings that pop into his head - his stomach simultaneously freezes in anxiety and melts with butterflies. he wants to hug richie again like he did last night, he wants richie to put his huge hands on his waist again, he wants richie to pinch his cheek, he wants richie to tease him like he always does, he wants richie's lips on his own. 

eddie doesn't touch richie, though, and instead gets out of bill's bed as slowly as he can while trying not to make noise as he leaves to brush his teeth. 

he comes back to find richie laying the same way, except now he has one arm outstretched onto the empty space that eddie's body had just occupied. his stomach does a somersault as he thinks about the possibility of richie doing that last night when they were both sleeping. he bites his lip, shaking his head to suppress his grin as he combs through bill's closet to find something clean to wear, because there's no way he's putting on his dirty costume from last night. it smelled like booze. 

his mind trails off. how did richie feel about eddie? did he ever get the urge to kiss him like eddie does? it's obvious that richie's much more experienced in the dating arena than him, but for some reason that doesn't scare him as much as he thinks it ought to. 

and he knows now that richie's been trying his hardest with eddie, and maybe it's time to give back. he pulls his shirt off and drops it to the floor next to his high-sock clad feet as he combs through bill's stuff before settling on a green crewneck sweatshirt, grabbing it off the hanger.

"well, don't you look yummy." a low voice mumbles. eddie squawks, not realizing richie had already woken up. "oh, h-hi. i didn't think you were awake, sorry." is all eddie says, sounding dumb. grinning sheepishly, he feels like he was caught doing something he shouldn't have. he looks at richie, who's now leaning against bill's headboard and grinning sleepily. 

richie's then fumbling for his glasses next to him to put on which eddie silently thanks - at least richie can't yet see how flushed he is. eddie quickly pulls the crewneck over his head, ignoring the butterflies fluttering in his chest. richie saw him shirtless. he feels oddly excited about it. 

"mmm, definitely don't be." richie responds smoothly, his voice still sleepy. eddie looks up, met with richie rising from the bed, rubbing his eyes. "what time is it? they're so loud down there." richie mumbles, his voice low and gravelly from sleep as he walks towards bill's door. "god, i need some aspirin." eddie shrugs, avoiding eye contact in hopes that his blush would fucking go away. 

"i think it's like, ten." eddie says, idly drumming his fingertips on bill's desk. "and there's aspirin on the counter in there, i left it out for you with some water..." eddie trails off, embarrassed that he'd done knowing that richie would probably be a tad hungover. richie just flashes a thankful grin as he walks out.

eddie doesn't really know why he waits for richie to come back in, but he does and richie's there grinning with a freshly brushed set of teeth and a disheveled t shirt. it's criminal, really, how good he looks like that. eddie _knows_ his hair is a mess and he looks like an idiot in his red shorts, white high socks and bill's green crewneck sweater so he instinctively reaches up to smooth his hair down. "c'mon eds, let's go see what they're doing down there." richie says, nodding his head towards bill's door with a grin.

eddie and richie stumble into the kitchen to see a scene that eddie thinks might give him a heart attack. 

mabel and bill are holding spatulas dripping with what looked to be pancake batter and flicking them at each other. bill was smiling brilliantly and mabel was giggling and screaming. bev is laying on top of bill's island counter, her legs dangling off the edge, surrounded by sliced fruit and playing with one of stan's hands. the boy is trying to slice more fruit one-handed and laughing as he jokes with bev.

mike's screeching at bill and mabel through his laughter, trying to grab one of the spatulas to use at the stove. ben is next to him, also laughing as he's furiously trying to flip a pancake on a pan.

"yeah, this looks about right." richie projects, gathering their friends' attention. they all greet them, bev sitting up from the island and pouring the boys cups of coffee. bill and mabel give up on their batter war and were now gathering to stand around richie and eddie. "how'd you sleep?" mabel says with a mischievous grin, making eddie's throat dry up. 

richie just pour cream into his mug and yawns, "slept well. bill, you should invite me into your bed more often." he says, sending a wink towards the boy. bill chuckles, "s-sure, tozier." 

"i think breakfast is done." mike says with a grin and a chuckle. eddie smiles, not even realizing how hungry he was. ben helps bev down from the counter from her waist (even though she could have done it herself) and they all hungrily grab plates. "rich and eddie go last since they didn't help at all!" mabel calls out. eddie flushes and rolls his eyes, "hey, that's so unfair! you could've come up and woken us up!" he wines, although he doesn't really care all that much.

ben and mabel both snicker. "w-we were afraid of what w-we'd walk in on." bill mutters, sending a small smirk to eddie. oh god, he feels his face turn red again in mortification. richie chuckles from behind eddie but surprisingly doesn't say anything about it so eddie just settles with socking bill in the shoulder. the others laugh. "you first, mon chou." richie says, bowing dramatically at him after the others have gotten their food. 

"richie, shut up. what does that even _mean?"_ eddie grumbles as fills his plate and brings his food over to the table where everyone's perched. richie doesn't respond and just chuckles as he sits down in between mike and bill. 

"it doesn't really have that perfect a translation in english." mabel explains with a shrug. "it's kind of like... sweetie, darling, something like that."

bev sends a pointed look across the table to eddie and he rolls his eyes. "god, of course it does. fuck off, rich." he says even though by everyone's expressions, it's obvious they all hear the adoration in his words. richie grins as he shoves sliced strawberries into his mouth wolfishly. 

after a few minutes of idle conversation, richie clears his throat. "guys, i'm, uh, i'm sorry about how i acted last night." he says finally. everyone looks up.

stan sets down his mug, mabel stops chewing on her bite of pancake and four forks are set down on their respective plates. "-i shouldn't have ruined the night for you guys. i always do this, i'm- i was stressed because we didn't expect our parents to be home, and it caught me way off guard, and my feelings got hurt, and i think i just... wanted to let loose," he rambles, staring intently at his glass of cranberry juice and not looking at anyone. "and that's totally unfair to you guys, so... i'm just really sorry." 

nobody really says anything because, at least from what eddie can tell, nobody feels like his actions really warranted an apology. he wasn't really that bad. nonetheless, they were all grateful for him opening up and being so genuine. after a moment, a chorus of praise for richie emits in the room, making him hang his head bashfully.  
"hey, rich, it's totally cool. i still had a good time." mike says, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder. "yeah honey, it's okay. you never ruin our night. we understand" bev assures.   
"we love you, man." from ben.   
"richie, it's totally unders-standable. n-nobody had a bad time." bill says with a grin.   
"you're an idiot but that's what we love about you." mabel says softly. richie finally meets eddie's gaze and eddie smiles at him warmly. the blush that paints richie's cheeks can't possibly be eddie's imagination. 

richie insists he do the dishes by himself to make up for everything, no matter how much everyone tells him he doesn't need to apologize. bill only agrees to let him do that if richie lets bill dry them, so ben puts them away after bill wipes them off. stan and mike hang around to listen to music and give them company.

bev and mabel drag eddie to sit in the living room to chat while the others finish up. "so, what happened last night? how'd you get him to go to sleep?" mabel asks from her seat on the floor across from eddie, leaning on her knees eagerly. eddie blanches, "uh... i mean- i don't know. what?" he stutters out.   
"something happened!" bev says with a smirk, also leaning forward. eddie feels cornered. mabel squeals. "oh, my god! tell me everything!" mabel gushes and eddie's confusion must show on his face. mabel sighs. 

_"don't act like you haven't fallen in love with my brother, eddie."_ she states boldly.

eddie screeches quietly, slapping his hands over mabel's mouth. "what the hell is wrong with you! they're literally right in the other room!" eddie yelps. beverly laughs, "so what happened?" she prods. 

" _nothing!_ nothing happened. we just... we just talked. i told him i was sorry for being such a prick to him all this time and then he told me about... why you guys moved." eddie says softly with a glance to mabel's face. her expression contorts to one of pain but is quickly replaced to a smile. "i hoped he'd open up to you sooner or later. sorry i didn't tell you, i just thought that he should b-" 

"mabel, don't apologize, i understand." eddie says with a smile. she smiles back, pulling him into a hug.

"you gonna kiss him anytime soon?" bev asks. eddie's eyes widen. "shut up!" he hisses, feeling scandalized. she laughs angelically. "what? he's into you, eddie. spend some time with him, it's obvious." she says, looking to mabel for back up.   
"shut up bev. and how are you okay with this?" eddie asks, biting his lip as he looks at mabel.   
"eddie, you're just what the other needs. how could i not be?" she says softly. the others wander into the room before eddie can embarrass himself with the gigantic smile that threatens to take over his face. his heart feels elated. 

“right, well we're done cleaning. c'mon kids, i’ll take you home.” richie says, wiping his hands on his pants as he eyes mabel and eddie. "we all walked here, richie." eddie reasons with an eye roll. richie just snorts, nudging stan with his shoulder as if that was the best joke he'd heard all morning. stan just gives him a look.

"nonsense, eds. we've got bill's car. sis, you coming?" richie says casually as he loops an arm around bill's shoulders. "you're n-not driving my car, richie." bill interjects. stan snickers. "then we're walking. you ready, eds? bell?" 

"oh, sorry, i'm- uh, actually i think we're... going... to the mall." mabel says suddenly, grabbing bev's arm. the girls nod with smiles that seem suspicious, "we'll see you later at the quarry, right? we can bring your stuff then. you two just head out."   
eddie scowls at them but smiles at richie when he puts a hand on his shoulder. he pretends to ignore the wink that mike sends him as they walk out the front door. 

* * *

it’s quiet for the first couple minutes of the walk towards eddie’s house, only a few comments here and there until they walk into a park and richie goes into fucking stealth mode. "oh shit, eddie c’mere.” richie hisses suddenly. eddie frowns in confusion, having noticed a group of boys enter the park but nothing too alarming around them. but richie grabs eddie and ducks behind a wall of bushes that go up a couple inches above richie's head. 

“any particular reason you want to hide behind some shrubbery, tozier?” eddie asks sarcastically and richie tosses a glare to him but tugs eddie down so he’s crouching next to him. 

"that’s henry bowers. he goes to school with me, he's not my biggest fan. he's the kid who i got into a fight with that one night." richie mutters, his eyes darting over the shrubs. _oh._ eddie nods quickly, looking over the shrubs at the boy with a greasy mullet as he walks on the other side of the park with some others. “well he looks like a douche." eddie says dumbly, and richie chuckles. "you got that right, mon chou." 

henry and the others are almost gone, not having noticed them, and eddie thinks about richie's nickname and what mabel said this morning. eddie just looks up at richie, staring into his eyes. richie's smirk slowly fades away under eddie's gaze and his upturned smirk slowly turns into a soft, inquisitive look. his lips are parted like he's going to say something but is waiting for eddie to do something.

to do what?

but for some reason eddie's hit with the thought that the first time they ever met, richie called him his darling... it makes him feel fuzzy inside. it’s stupid, but eddie’s staring at richie and smiling as he tries to keep the grin from eclipsing his whole face. 

richie hums contently, looking in thought as he watches eddie. eddie spares a glance over the bush as henry’s head turns. eddie ducks down, concealing a giggle. he feels special, which is stupid but true, to be hiding behind bushes with richie - in shock that richie and eddie were somehow close enough to share a adventures like this together. god, he sounds insane.

richie hums quietly. “i like it when you smile like that.” richie coos, beaming brightly. pulled out of his thoughts, eddie tilts his head, still smiling despite his shock. “y-why?” he huffs softly in embarrassment as his stomach tumbles around.

richie shrugs, his eyes fond and not leaving his face. eddie doesn’t feel scrutinized though, in fact he feels enthralled by the feeling of richie’s eyes taking in every inch of his face. “i dunno. you’re like, the human version of the blushing emoji. cute cute _cute_!” he says, hand coming to pinch eddie’s cheek. this time he doesn't pull away, even at the teasing note in richie's voice.

and oh, god. eddie knows he probably looks like a fool with his grin but he can’t help it, ducking his head down while preening at richie’s touch. “you gettin’ shy on me, kid?” richie asks softly, which just makes eddie blush even more. he’s pretty sure he’s blushed more around richie in these last few months than he has his whole life. 

“shut up, rich.” eddie says softly, meeting his eyes. he’s met with a gaze that’s half teasing but also full of adoration. eddie can’t help it when his eyes trail down to richie’s lips, which are curved beautifully in a soft smile. eddie doesn’t care that they’re ducked behind shrubs in a park (for basically no reason at this point now that bowers is gone) because all he can think about is _richierichierichie._ and he can't stop looking at the lips that he desperately wants to kiss.

eddie quickly spares a glance to richie's own eyes to see if the boy noticed his staring just to find that richie is staring intently at eddie's own lips with a soft look. richie leans towards him so slowly that eddie's not totally sure he didn't imagine it. he's definitely not imagining it when he leans towards richie - close enough that richie's eyes widen slightly and eddie can smell the body wash that richie must have used earlier. 

"eds, are y-" richie's whisper is cut off by eddie's lips pressing against his. he meant for it to be quick so that he could pull away quickly when richie rejected him; he expected a soft push and an 'eddie, i'm sorry, i don't see you that way.' 

eddie probably looks like an idiot as he's leaning towards richie and kissing him with his eyes screwed shut - but instead richie kisses back immediately, his hand grabbing his waist and the other his thigh. 

after a few moments, eddie pulls back slightly so he can gather himself and his butterflies that are threatening to spill out of his mouth. he wants to scream. richie is still glancing at his lips and smirking even though he himself has a small blush on his cheeks. eddie bites his lip sheepishly and is about to explain himself but richie just laughs quietly, blinding eddie with his beauty as he smiles and pulls eddie back into him. he's so nervous that he thinks his hands may be shaking as his hands fall onto richie's chest and when richie kisses him he thinks he's going to go crazy.

richie's kiss is a lot like him - wild and yet somehow relaxed, surprisingly soft, passionate, and kind of makes him want to rip his hair out. richie's tongue swipes eddie's bottom lip and he smiles as he opens his lips for him. richie's mouth on his feels warm and makes him feel fuzzy and happy and nervous in the best way. eddie's head is spinning and his heart feels like his heart is going to burst out of his chest when richie's hand slides from his hip to wrap around his waist and pull him closer, dragging him over one of his thighs to sit on his lap. eddie slides his hand up richie's neck and into his hair, threading his fingers through his curls as richie's lips move masterfully against his own. richie groans very quietly into the kiss when eddie tugs him closer and eddie thinks actually he's died and gone to heaven. richie's hand on eddie's waist squeezes gently as eddie tilts his head slightly to deepen their kiss, and eddie can't help the sigh that he emits when richie squeezes his bare thigh, marveling in how richie's hand wraps around it. richie bites eddie's bottom lip gently and tugs as he pulls away, barely moving an inch before eddie's pulling him back towards him again. holy shit, nobody's ever tugged on eddie's lip before and it's embarrassing how hot he finds it as he kisses richie back. 

when they pull apart again, their eyes meet and for a second and they both hold their breath in the silence.

eddie's the first to break though, cutting through the tension with a small a giggle. richie's face looks relieved and he smiles before laughing along, both of them bewildered by what they'd finally just done. 

richie shakes his head, "holy shit, eds, i think i've wanted to do that since the day i first drove you home." his grin is so genuine that eddie gets butterflies. "me too." eddie breathes out, blinking in shock with a grin of his own. richie's hand is still on his thigh and one of eddie's is still resting on richie's chest. he can't fucking believe they just did that.

they're both blushing and grinning like idiots and eddie realizes he was still practically straddling richie's thigh and if they didn't get up soon eddie was going to have a really embarrassing semi that he'd have to explain - just from kissing richie. _get it together, kaspbrak._

"um, i've gotta- i have to go home." eddie says awkwardly, sliding off of richie and pulling himself to his feet. richie nods, standing, "that's what we're doing. i'm walking you home, eds. we just... took a slight detour." he gestures to their previous path and the discourse that ended in them making out behind shrubs. eddie nods, his cheeks heating up. "okay smartass, lets go." he says with a glare. he still grabs richie's hand to drag him towards his house, though. 

"oh, _i'm_ the smartass, eds?" richie says with a chuckle as he stumbles behind eddie. eddie turns to glare at him, but the look melts off his face as richie tugs him towards his chest and quickly presses a chaste kiss on his lips. "i forgive you. you're too cute to stay mad at, _mon chou._ "


	11. ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one's a little short, this was going to be the final chapter but i cut them in half so the next one is the final chapter!! 
> 
> also thank u all for such nice comments wtf :') love u guys
> 
> this is highly unedited but i wanted to update since i've been gone for finals!!

it's not too long to finish the walk to eddie's house, but richie drops eddie's hand after a few minutes. at first, they were still talking and quarreling and eddie felt light - but now his mind is reading too much into it. he realizes that the first time richie kissed him was when they were literally hiding behind a bush, that he won't hold his hand, that he's walking a little further away from him. 

he knows richie, he knows him well enough to know that richie doesn't date. so why did eddie think that he was so different? 

"so when should our wedding be, eds?" richie asks, sounding too serious but also too joking for eddie's liking. holy shit, what is happening? why can he suddenly not read richie? was he overthinking too much, or was he not taking richie's physical hints that he wasn't into eddie _like that?_

eddie gives him an incredulous look but can't speak. 

"i-i was being sarcastic." richie states, eyebrows furrowing as he gives eddie a weird look. eddie visibly relaxes, hating how susceptible he was to richie's every whim. richie notices and rolls his eyes, "christ. you're so sensitive." he mumbles. eddie's stomach pangs at the words and it's silent the rest of the way to his house. 

"alright, spaghetti." richie says, clapping his hands together and rubbing them as they walk up his driveway. "looks like this is where i leave you." he adds. eddie doesn't want richie to go, though, partly because he doesn't want him to go back to his own awful house and also because he doesn't know what will happen between them once he leaves. 

how does richie feel about eddie? is it just fun to mess around with his younger sister's friend? his stomach hurts as he thinks more about it. there's _no way_ that someone like richie could want anything more than just a few make outs with someone like eddie. 

they're standing right next to the porch now and eddie turns to face richie, biting his lip. looking at him hurts, but he knows he wants richie to stay away from his parents and close to him, regardless of how richie feels for eddie. 

"d-do you... do you want to wait? if you don't wanna go back..." he trails off, gesturing vaguely in the direction of mabel and richie's house. richie looks slightly relieved and he grins, "if it's not, like, intrusive." richie mumbles. does richie feel how awkward this is, too?

eddie gently smiles through his doubt, though, and shrugs a shoulder awkwardly. "if you could...could you just wait out here?" eddie asks, wringing his hands. richie looks surprised and a little hurt so eddie shakes his head, hoping to put a stop to whatever richie's thinking. ”look, it’s not that i don’t want you to meet her, i just...” he trails off again, not really knowing how to convey the nightmare that is his relationship with his mother. but softly, richie lays a hand on eddie’s arm.

”eds. i get it.” richie says softly. and eddie smiles at him gratefully, about to lean in and kiss him again but a door opening makes him jump away. richie's eyebrows raise as a voice screeches, "eddie-bear? is that you?" 

his stomach drops and groans quietly, "shit." he mutters before turning to see his mom on the porch, arms crossed and glaring at richie. she looks like a human gargoyle.

"hi, ma." he says, stepping away from richie but still gesturing to him, "um, this is my friend." 

"i thought you were at bill's." she snaps. eddie sighs slightly, "i _was_ , ma. there were a few of us, and he was there too." eddie says, his voice sharp and annoyed. "well, why's he here now?" sonia asks bluntly and eddie wishes he could sound surprised. his mom may not want her son to be gay, but it's clear that she knows eddie is and still hates every boy he ever talks to. "ma!" he snaps, embarrassed and anxious, "he's _only_ a friend." eddie says forcefully, "you don't have to worry." he wants to cry but also spit in her face.

it's quiet, then richie sticks his hand out. "pleasure to meet you, ms. k. my name is _just a friend_." he spits loudly and eddie wants to face palm. his mom warily shakes his hand, keeping an eye on him. eddie might throw up. 

she steps aside though, allowing the boys to sneak past her and into the house. eddie's stomach almost hurts from nerves - he knows 

"we're going back to bill's house, mommy, i just need to get my stuff." he rushes a lie, knowing damn well that she'd never let him go to the quarry. he kicks richie when he hears his muffled laughter, though is slightly relieved somewhere in the bottom of his chest that richie's not still offended.

they make it into eddie's room quickly and he's so embarrassed by everything that he doesn't have time to see richie's cautious gaze as the taller boy watches eddie buzzing around and trying to find his swim trunks. 

"so eds, you call your mom _mommy?_ " richie asks, grinning wolfishly as if that's the funniest thing he's ever heard. "shut up, asshole." eddie quips, throwing a pillow at richie. it hits his arms and it falls to the ground, richie taking the opportunity to fling himself onto eddie's bed. it's quiet for a few moments.

"i have to say," richie starts, tossing a marble from eddie's table up towards the ceiling and catching it, "i thought i would have to put in more work to get into your bedroom. you were so _easy_ , eddie." 

eddie, who was previously digging through his closet, halted his movements. _oh._ he doesn't know why he's surprised that all richie wants is to hook up, or whatever. in fact, he doesn't know why ever thought otherwise in the first place.

maybe it was the fact that his heart stung when richie didn't use a nickname, or maybe it was his terrible anxiety over the whole situation but the elation he'd felt ten minutes ago was completely gone, replaced with an empty pit. 

richie didn't like him like that. 

he wants to cry but that would make things too awkward - his eyes are already swimming with tears and he feels pathetic so instead he forces a chuckle, "funny." he deadpans. richie doesn't appear to notice or even care as he continues to ramble, looking around at eddie's walls and all the knick knacks that had accumulated there over the years. 

"hey, so about earlier..." 

"no, no, no. it's okay, i get it. we're just friends. it's cool." richie says casually, still facing away from eddie. "mistakes happen easily in the moment, and... you know, we were hiding and i'm so hungover and you probably are too-" eddie almost rolls his eyes because no, he is not hungover at all and richie may be but that's a shitty excuse to break this thing off. 

his heart hurts painfully and he itches to use his fucking inhaler because richie calling their kiss, their _everything_ a mistake... that hurt. what gave him the grand idea of catching feelings for his friend's older brother? how did he expect a happy ending? 

"whatever, richie. you don't have to give excuses." eddie says sharply. the thought of spending the rest of the day with richie before meeting the others at the quarry is starting to seem more and more scary and increasingly heartbreaking. richie turns to look at him and eddie immediately looks away, continuing his word vomit and trying to prove to richie that he never actually caught feelings. "this is just how you are. you think about yourself, you're always fucking around, all that shit. it's fine, that's just who you are." 

eddie's eyes are trained on the ground still, so he doesn't notice if richie has any reaction. eddie can feel his hands shaking. it's quiet but then richie sighs. 

"fuck you, eddie." he sounds very hurt, and eddie's eyes snap to his. they're rimmed with red and richie looks more upset than eddie's ever seen him. "no matter how you do or don't feel about me, i hope you understand how fucking insensitive you're being." richie says harshly, his voice wavering. it's so uncharacteristic of richie to be exerting this kind of emotion that eddie's stunned. he feels like he did the night before.

eddie opens his mouth to apologize, but richie keeps speaking, "why can't you just _tell me these things_ before it happens?" he asks, and now eddie's confused because richie's not starting to make any sense. if richie was just playing games then why is he getting so upset about it all?

but before eddie can ask, richie keeps going, "but i guess you're right. that's _me_." he laughs humorlessly, "i never wanted you-wanted _this,_ anyways, i guess. i-yeah, whatever. this is so stupid." richie groans, hand covering his eyes. eddie thinks he might vomit because holy shit, this is _so bad,_ he's hurting so bad, he's pissed off richie _so bad_.

"i gotta go." richie mumbles, pissed off as he walks out eddie's room. eddie really, really wants to chase after him, but he's way too selfish and knows that his heart will just be broken if he does.

so he watches with tears silently streaking down his face as richie disappears down the road through his window as richie lights a cigarette with shaky hands and his head hung low.


	12. eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you GUYS OH MY GOD  
> i haven't been on this site since deadass NINE MONTHS AGO but i am here to finally post this last chapter. 
> 
> i wanted to say thank you all so so much for your kind words and feedback, it makes me so happy to hear from ppl and see that u guys appreciate my work. especially since this was my first ever piece of writing i ever wrote??? you guys are incredible!!
> 
> i've been thinking about starting a new reddie fic, so please please let me know if you'd like to read something else i write (and also i'd love to hear requests or suggestions)!! 
> 
> here's the last chapter of black licorice, i'm so so sorry that i haven't updated in so fking long, pls let me know ur thoughts <3  
> also if u wanna hmu on tumblr, i write losers x reader stuff mostly but if u wanna just chat or anything my @ is soulwillower :)
> 
> xx

eddie managed to get down to the quarry by himself, but he was so miserable and anxious on the way there that he was twenty minutes late. he could blame it on perhaps his disdain towards having to face richie, mabel, or the others, but he really knows its because his heart just hurts way too much to stay this way. he had to talk to richie and he was dreading it, so he just kicked rocks and inspected the bark on every tree he passed for aphids. 

as he scuffs his shoes against the dirt, he wonders if he should just turn back and not show up. but no, he couldn't do that. he had to do this, he had to make sure richie was okay and that he knew that he was sorry. even if it destroyed him in the process. that thought makes him wheeze slightly as he finally looks up, the faint noise of his friends lounging at the quarry coming into distance.   
"eddie!" mike calls. eddie waves back, mustering a half-smile. how the fuck was he going to do this?

but, as it turns out, he doesn't really have to.

"where's richie?" is the first thing bill asks as eddie trudges up to them solemnly. eddie has to bite back a _good to see you too_ as he frowns at everyone. "um, he-he's not here?" eddie asks, the pit in his stomach becoming wider. stan shakes his head, brow lifted. "wasn't he with you last?" ben asks, blinking curiously. eddie's mouth opens and closes and he knows he looks like a babbling fish, but he's just shocked. his legs are pulsing with tremors and he doesn't know if it's because of the anxiety or something else, but he knows that as scared as he was about confronting richie, it's something he needs to do. 

so he convinces everyone to go ahead and get started swimming and he will get richie, walking the same path back up to the main road to make his way towards mabel and richie's house. 

he skids on the pavement as he rides silver into town from the barrens, having asked bill to borrow it, and his eyes fall on the drugstore at the corner. the sun is hot and making eddie sweat - so with lips twitching, he runs in and out quickly with two packs in his hands and a large coke for him (he begs whatever's in the sky to not let his mom come across him with a soda in his possession right now), then biking quickly towards the house. 

it's fifteen minutes until he gets to the house and he's about to vomit up all the _nothing_ he ate today as he walks in the front door. 

he, unsurprisingly, doesn't run into anyone as he gets to richie's room. the door is closed, but a soft muffle lets him know that richie is not only in there, but most likely crying. he feels like he's going to cry himself as he twists open the door and peers inside. 

it's dark inside and a slow, steady indie beat comes from somewhere in the corner of richie's room, playing a song that eddie doesn't know. something about the lyrics makes eddie itch, but he can't put his finger on it. 

"get out." richie says coldly, voice completely muffled by the pillow he was face-down on and eddie just about jumps out of his shorts, but instead keeps his shoes planted on the carpet. "um, richie, i just-" 

richie's head snaps quickly at eddie's voice, turning so quickly that eddie fears the boy may have whiplash. "oh.." he looks surprised to see eddie. "why are you here, eddie?" richie says, sounding broken, angry, and completely exhausted. eddie feels uncomfortable as he shifts in his k swiss's. 

"oh, i, er, i just- i feel so. i felt really b- i don't expect this to make it any better, but-" eddie sighs in frustration, feeling like he might cry. what is so wrong with him that he can't just spit this out?

he glances at richie, who stares back patiently with a somber look on his face. he looks exhausted and eddie doesn't have to be very sharp to know that he's the reason why. he shakes his head, scrubbing his eyes. "i just- i'm sorry, richie. i don't know what made me say that stuff, i- i don't know, i was just upset- um, hey, i got you some licorice." eddie rushes quickly.

he wants to circle back to the whole _i'm sorry i called you selfish when you're one of the most selfless people i know_ thing, but richie's eyes are on the package in his hand and he feels so fucking awkward. "-they're disgusting, i opened a pack for myself just so i could try it because i know you love it and i wanted to see why and i almost threw up. but if that- i dont mean to make you mad, or-or uncomfortable by getting you it. so obviously, you dont have to eat them if you dont want it. i just- i know you love black licorice." 

he lets out a long breath, not daring to look richie in his big eyes as he tosses the stupid candy onto richie's bed. 

“eds..." richie starts, and for a second eddie thinks his anxiety might have been a little overestimated. richie calling him that nickname...that's a good sign, right? 

but then richie continues and eddie wishes he could sink through the floorboards. "i can’t do this again. i won’t.” richie's voice is scratchy and he won't even look at eddie in the eyes.

the candy lays on richie's bed untouched. it feels like another rejection. 

eddie can't help his frown. "please, richie, i just need to say it, just let me say it once. i'll never say it again after and- and we can go back to normal." eddie pleads. he has to tell richie, he just needs richie to know that he's _loved._

richie looks at him with pain etched all over his beautiful face.

the look he's giving eddie is haunting. "did you ever stop to think that i have feelings too?" richie whispers, eyes swimming with unshed tears and shocking eddie into complete silence. he can feel his own heart split - his stomach drops and he feels completely hollow, but he can't say anything. what?  
"does that matter at all to you?" richie asks weakly, looking smaller and more vulnerable than eddie's ever seen him. 

"what?" eddie finally squeaks out. his mouth is agape, not sure how to react. tears turn richie's eyes glossy and red, his nose red as he takes a shuddering breath. "i don't think i can hear you say it." he whispers, letting out a quiet sob. eddie's heart splits for what feels like the thousandth time. "-you're hurting me, eddie, i- i... i'm a _person_ , i have feelings just like you, and mabel, bev, mike... why can't anyone see that?" 

"rich, i-" eddie starts gently, but richie shakes his head, curls flying. "-no, eddie. i get it. i know you don't feel the same way about me. just a friend, right? i can't do it." he whimpers. eddie's heart drops down to his ass. 

"richie, that's... i don't think we're on the same page." eddie says softly, trying to fit the pieces together in his head. 

"no, i really don't think we do." richie mutters bitterly, wiping his tears furiously. he looks almost embarrassed, and it springs eddie into action. " _no,_ i have to explain myself. i wasn't - i know how stubborn i am, how sometimes i'm so angry or-or embarrassed with myself that i'm blind and also can't hear when people are telling me how _they_ feel. and i can't take rejection, and that's _my_ fault."

richie's quiet as he watches eddie, eyelashes long and dark and wet under his frames.

eddie continues, "but what i said earlier, i... it's not true, because i _know_ you. i see how much everyone around you loves you, i mean- you barely knew bill for _ten minutes_ before the two of you were cracking some dumbshit jokes- but, that's besides the point. i think. i don't know, i just-" he shakes his head, his fingers jittering as his eyes bounce around richie's dumbstruck face.

but that look on richie's face... there are flickers of hope somewhere in there and it motivates eddie, swallowing thickly and ignoring the tears trickling down his own cheeks that mirror richie's. "you _scare_ me, rich. but like, you scare me in a way that's, like, really good. you make me do some dumb shit and sometimes you do get on my nerves, but... holy shit do i love it. i don't think i would trade it in for the world." eddie says honestly, watching as a smile (a confused one, but a smile no less) creeps onto the taller boy's face. "and i've seen how caring you have been with me, how you've been trying your hardest with me, and i realized that it's all my fear of not being enough and my weird stubbornness that prevented me from giving back. but... i like you, richie. um, like _like_ you, or whatever." he ends, scratching his arm awkwardly. he sounds like a middle schooler. "really, like a _lot."_

richie looks truly shocked. 

"aw, shucks, eds." is all richie says as he scratches his own neck. his face looks like a tomato, and eddie subconsciously wonders how the boy can look so beautiful while he's crying and embarrassed and scratching his neck like an ape.   
in the back of his head, he hears _love works in mysterious ways._

richie lets out a watery chuckle. "um, wow. sorry, that's just so not how i was expecting this to go." richie says, but he quickly widens his eyes, sensing eddie's anxiety at those words. "n-not that i'm not relieved. i like you too, eddie. so much, so much it hurts." he says with a smile that could blind eddie. it was the most beautiful thing eddie had ever seen. 

he stands to his full height as walks slowly towards eddie, who is frozen in his place as he watched the handsome enigma move towards him with a grin. 

"i thought- i thought you didn't." eddie stammers dumbly, and richie smirks at him, "i kind of gathered that, mon chou."   
eddie's flustered at the nickname as always, but _god_ how good it feels to have richie call him that again. 

eddie gives a grin of his own, going up onto his toes as his hands fall against richie's shoulders. "you were just as much of an idiot as i was, shut up." 

"i love it when you sweet talk me, eds." richie says, his breath against eddie's lips making shivers course down his spine at twice the speed as normal. 

they pull back with wide grins, hearts racing and eddie's practically buzzing. 

richie raises his brows, "hey, we should- we should probably get to the quarry." 

* * *

they show back up to the quarry and the sun is glaring down on their bare skin, their friends calling for them to jump from way down below. mabel bathes in the sun on a rock way down below, face mostly covered by a large sun hat as she yells, "hurry up!" 

eddie takes a breath, "wow, that's a long way down." richie hums in agreement, squeezing eddie's hand. " _n'aie pas peur_ , eds."

eddie squints up at richie, and the boy grins, looking lovely with a sun-halo surrounding his frame. the skin on his chest is pale and makes eddie sweat as he looks at him yet subconsciously he reminds himself to make richie put on sunscreen once they get down to the others. 

"means don't be afraid, mon chou." richie translates with a nudge to eddie. eddie grins and then with an eye roll, a surge of energy prompts eddie to take off towards the cliff while tugging richie with him. 

they're jumping then, the air beautiful and sharp as they free fall towards the sparkling water. their hands fall from each others on the way down, but eddie's for the first time okay with it. a cheer of glee is the last thing eddie hears before he hits the water. 

it takes only ten minutes until eddie wades towards richie again, after making some excuse of richie's absence to tell the others. "hey, eds." richie says with a smirk, and eddie has to swallow hard and look away because jesus christ, richie's hair is wet and dripping droplets down his torso, over those muscles... 

he shakes his head, "richie, look what i just caught!" he says, holding his hands on the surface of the lake and cupping them to pretend there's a creature between his palms. eddie almost swoons at how excited richie looks for eddie, leaning down to try and see through the hole made by eddie's hands. 

just as he's close enough, eddie clasps his hands and sprays the water all over richie's face, making him yelp and jerk back. 

eddie dies laughing while richie grumbles in embarrassment at falling for his childish trick. "damn, eds, look at this!" he says, and eddie rolls his eyes at how poorly richie planned his revenge. "no, rich-" he starts as he turns to him, but then he's getting a mouth full of water. 

they start to wrestle, and eddie eventually gets his hands on richie's strong shoulders and shoves hard, so richie sinks under the water completely. 

when richie surfaces, he's got a look in his eye and before eddie can do anything richie's hands are on eddie's cheeks, pulling his lips to his. 

richie's lips are soft and wet as they kiss, his skin cooled slightly from the water of the quarry against the heat of the summer day. eddie's fingers grip richie's arm as he kisses back.

but then they pull all the way apart, nearly springing away from each other like the wrong sides of magnets as a loud scream emits around the quarry. birds squawk and fly from the trees and eddie's face is certainly redder than a strawberry as he looks over. 

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" mabel screams, thrashing her hands in the water. bev laughs in shock, the rest of them staring with wide eyes and slack jaws. 

"um..." eddie says, heart thumping fast as the others stare. richie clears his throat, _"eddie... is my lover."_

sighing, eddie clenches his jaw and shakes his head slightly in embarrassment at richie's words, although they make his heart soar. richie's a fucking dumbass and he loves it. it feels good to admit. 

it's quiet as they all stare at eddie and richie, who are standing in front of everyone like they're giving an awkward class presentation. then, as if with perfect comedic timing, mike yelps, "i fucking KNEW it! i knew it! mabel, i totally called it!" and he's twirling her around his arms and everyone's laughing. bill shoves richie as the others walk up to the pair, and he mutters, "good for you, man. treat him well." 

richie's lips press against eddie's cheek quickly as mabel pulls eddie away with bev and stan to talk, leaving richie to laugh with ben, bill and mike. 

eddie looks over all his beautiful friends, and makes eye contact with richie. when he looks into his deep blue eyes, he knows that it's all worth it. birds sing in the sky, a warm breeze rustles the water as they wade around. eddie feels at peace as he looks at richie, his hair slightly drying under the sun and curling into his face. his friends laugh and tug at each other, mabel tossing her hat all the way to richie who catches it and flops it onto his head, looking to see if eddie's laughing. (he is).   
richie beams that beautiful, happy smile and _yeah,_ all is right in the world for now. eddie smiles. 

it's a beautiful day in derry, maine.


End file.
